{"id":675637,"date":"2026-01-05T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675637\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:13:11","slug":"the-most-desirable-town-to-live-in-britain-is-just-30-minutes-from-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/675637\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Desirable Town to Live in Britain Is Just 30 minutes From London"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re on the hunt for a new home or looking to sell, it\u2019s\u00a0handy to know which areas of the UK are at the top of people\u2019s wish lists. According to new research by the Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0and Savills estate agents, towns across the Home Counties are the most hotly sought after right now.\u00a0And\u00a0the number one most desirable spot in all of Britain is just a stone\u2019s throw from the Big Smoke.<\/p>\n

Savills\u00a0scored each town according to things like their green spaces,\u00a0travel links and schools as well as the proportion of residents holding managerial and professional jobs, their level of qualifications and the state of their health (if you want to see a desirability ranking based on actual demand, see here instead<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Based on those factors, the research concluded that\u00a0that being within a commutable distance of London is a major contributor to a town\u2019s desirability. Posh places in the south east of England dominate the top 20, and in first place is the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It takes just 30 minutes to get from Harpenden to London St Pancras on the train.\u00a0The\u00a0Telegraph\u00a0said that\u00a0the town\u00a0has\u00a0 \u2018village charm\u2019 with a \u2018superb\u00a0range of restaurants, wine bars and leisure facilities\u2019. It also boasts a bunch of schools that are highly rated by Ofsted and 60 percent of its population have a bachelor\u2019s level qualification.<\/p>\n

\"Harpenden,
\nPhotograph: Shutterstock <\/p>\n

One local told the paper that newcomers to Harpenden should be prepared to \u2018navigate a lot of SUVs\u2019 through the town and another said that it attracts\u00a0families with \u2018every club or class imaginable\u2019. With all those things in mind, it shouldn\u2019t come as much of a surprise that property\u00a0prices there are well above the national average. The average property in Harpenden will set you back \u00a3950,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s nowhere near the most expensive place on the list. The\u00a0Telegraph\u2019s\u00a0second most desirable town is Cobham in Surrey. To enjoy its \u2018easy access to green spaces\u2019 and \u2018cafe society\u2019, you\u2019ll need to be prepared to part with around \u00a31.4 million for a property. Third place went to Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, which has an \u2018excellent high street\u2019, \u2018great schools\u2019 and \u2018the Chilterns right on your doorstep\u2019. To own a property there, you\u2019re looking at an average price of \u00a31.2m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s top 20 most desirable towns, according to the\u00a0Telegraph\u00a0<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  1. Harpenden, Hertfordshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. Cobham, Surrey<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  3. Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  4. Chorleywood, Hertfordshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  5. Amersham, Buckinghamshire\u00a0<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  6. Hale, Greater Manchester<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  7. Esher, Surrey<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  8. Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  9. Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  10. St Albans, Hertfordshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  11. Virgina Water, Surrey<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  12. Sevenoaks, Kent<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  13. West Bridgford, Nottingham<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  14. Ashtead, Surrey<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  15. Farnham, Surrey<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  16. Cambridge<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  17. Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  18. North Ascot, Berkshire<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  19. Altrincham, Greater Manchester<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  20. Weybridge, Surrey\u00a0<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n

    In London itself, the Telegraph named Richmond Green the most desirable place to live. Read more about that here<\/a>\u00a0and read the\u00a0Telegraph\u2019s\u00a0list in full here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Did you see that\u00a0London\u2019s legendary no trousers tube ride returns this weekend<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Plus:\u00a012 major changes coming to London transport in 2026<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke \u2013 from news and reviews to events and trends. Just\u00a0<\/strong>follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Stay in the loop: sign up for our\u00a0<\/strong>free Time Out London newsletter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether you\u2019re on the hunt for a new home or looking to sell, it\u2019s\u00a0handy to know which areas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,6419,393,4884,257,6420,6417,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-675637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-categories-things-to-do","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-news-city-life","14":"tag-things-to-do","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115843144888591427","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}