The tiny Essex village that is the best London commuter town in 2025

Love it or hate it, London life is fast-paced and occasionally pretty chaotic. The trains are packed, the streets are loud and rarely a weekend goes by that there aren’t any plans in the diary. It’s definitely an exciting place to be, but a long-term life in the capital isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. If you’ve started craving a slower way of living but you’re not quite ready to give up the city job, then a move to one of London’s surrounding towns or villages might be for you. 

From Essex to Bedfordshire, Sussex to Buckinghamshire, there’s a tonne of commuter towns to choose from. Of course, some of them are more desirable places to live than others. Unfortunately, not every place is blessed with good schools, stunning outdoor space, thriving culture and strong community.

But if you’re not willing to compromise on any of that stuff, the Telegraph has found out which commuter town is the best place to call home in 2025. The paper delved into six key criteria to determine the number one area. The all-important things it factored into its ranking were house prices, schools, green space, entertainment, travel times and season ticket prices. 

After analysing 100 London commuter towns and villages, the Telegraph named Roydon in Essex the best of the bunch. An easy breezy 37 minute train ride from Liverpool Street, Roydon is an 18 minute bus ride to Epping, where you can hop on the Central line, and just 16 miles from Stansted Airport. 

Sat on the Essex and Hertfordshire border, the average property price in the village is £510,000 and, according to the paper, every single house is within a 15-minute walk of a green space. 

The Telegraph wrote that ‘the overriding sense [in Roydon] is of community regardless of age or background,’ highlighting stuff like its monthly market, weekly walking group, men’s curry evenings, golf society and ‘thriving’ football and cricket clubs. 

Of course, the best people to ask are the ones that actually live there. One resident told the paper: ‘It’s a beautiful part of the world. It’s pretty much as nice as you can get living close to London. It’s a place where people genuinely care about each other.’

Another said: ‘We specially moved to Roydon because we wanted the best of both worlds – quick access into London, but having the green spaces and less hustle and bustle at the weekends.’

The top 10 London commuter towns in 2025, according to the Telegraph

1. Roydon, Essex
2. Watford, Hertfordshire
3. Epsom, Surrey
4. Esher, Surrey
5. St Albans, Hertfordshire
6. Whyteleafe, Surrey
7. Aldershot, Hampshire
8. Folkestone, Kent
9. Basildon, Essex
10. Twyford, Berkshire

You can read more about all of the Telegraph’s top 10 London commuter towns in the original article here.

The Sunday Times recently compiled its own list of the best places across the UK to live. You can see which London commuter towns made the cut here. And if your priority when looking for a new place to live is affordable housing, take a look at this list of London’s cheapest commuter towns.