Where to live if you commute to London Bridge

Being south of the Thames means that London Bridge primarily serves South East England, with services to destinations such as Kent and East Sussex via Southern railways. However, Thameslink started to serve the station in 2018, opening routes North to destinations such as Cambridge and Bedford.

Commutes within 30 mins of London Bridge

Although most 30 minute routes (green dots in the map below) would only take you to within the border of the M25, there are a few options to escape to the country.

Sevenoaks, Kent

21 mins - £365 monthly pass

The town of Sevenoaks is 40 miles from central London, just outside of the M25 and the train can take less than half an hour. As you would expect, Sevenoaks is therefore very popular with commuters and can be expensive to live in, with a detached house costing on average £828,000.

Sevenoaks has an excellent range of local schools too, including Trinity School which was rated Outstanding in 2017/18, adding to the appeal to live in this pretty town.

Horley, Surrey

25 mins - £298 monthly pass

Horley is situated just next to Gatwick airport. Noise pollution is something to consider, however, the benefit of the location is that the train to London Bridge takes less than half an hour if you are happy to drive the 2 miles to Gatwick airport station.

Surrey is an excellent county to consider for speedy commutes to London. Check out our 70-page Surrey guide which profiles seven towns and villages in the county.

Eynsford, Kent

19 mins - £281 monthly pass

If you're interested in somewhere a bit quieter then check out Eynsford, which is a picturesque village north of Sevenoaks. The train journey, if you're willing to drive the 3 miles to Swanley station, is around 30 minutes.

Commutes around an hour of London Bridge

Stretching to a 60-minute journey (orange dots above) can take you surprisingly far.

Brighton, East Sussex

60 mins, £565 monthly pass

Yes, you can reach the coast just within an hour and if you fancy somewhere with a bit of a buzz then Brighton might be for you.

St Albans, Hertfordshire

35 mins, £365 monthly pass

As detailed in our recent blog Living in St Albans, this is a hugely popular town to live in, partly due to its speedy links into London but also its excellent selection of schools.

Epsom, Surrey

44 mins, £213 monthly pass

Epsom, a town in Surrey, is under an hour on the train but has a relatively low monthly fare, at around £200 for a standard pass. If you need flexibility on routes into London, Epsom offers routes into Victoria, Waterloo, St Pancras and Charing Cross, all within an hour.

Surrey is an excellent county to consider for speedy commutes to London. Check out our 70-page Surrey guide which profiles seven towns and villages in the county.

If you're looking for a longer commute

We're all considering living out in the 'proper' countryside these days, so what's worth considering?

Alfriston, East Sussex

1hr 20 mins, £496 monthly pass

Alfriston has a lot to offer. It's picturesque, near the coast, has a low crime rate and the broadband isn't too bad. People are on to it though, as property shot up nearly 13% in the last year. A 1 hour 20 minute commute time doesn't include the 6 mile drive to Glynde station.

Sandwich, Kent

2hr, £571 monthly pass

If you want to get even further from the Capital, Sandwich is a medieval town filled with Tudor houses and inns. This port town offers slightly lower prices, at £445,000 for a detached house, although you'll pay a higher train pass.

Chilham, Kent

1hr 20, £565 monthly pass

Chilham is a village in Kent with a population of just over 1,500. Chilham has seen a boom in its property market, with an obvious increase in prices since Summer 2020. A detached house will cost you on average £502,000.


As the charts below show, there is a clear decrease in average property prices the further you're willing to commute (with some exceptions such as Cambridge). For example, the difference between a 30-40 minute train journey (St Albans, Esher) and a 90-100 minute journey (Peterborough, Huntingdon), for a semi-detached house, is over £400k.

Increasing property prices

Due to the recent increasing desire for space and also the stamp duty holiday, property prices are on the increase. The chart below shows the top increases relating to locations commutable to London Bridge.

Locations with the greatest increase in price (June 2024)