Even with commuting costs, renters are deciding that living outside of London provides better value

Even when commuter fares are factored in, former London tenants are still finding value in these home county areas.

Generation Rent is voting with its feet, moving out of expensive London flats and into home counties rentals for better value and quality accommodation — finding that even when commuter fares are added in, they are still better off.

Kingsley Okoli, a lettings specialist at SJ Smith estate agents, has noticed a flow of young families priced out of more expensive parts of south-west London.

“They are looking for good transport links back into London, good schools, and a nice local area,” says Okoli.

Wycombe Abbey School

Twenty- and thirtysomethings, who once only moved out of London to buy, now need cheaper rents if they are to stand any chance of raising the deposit for their own home, according to exclusive research by Hamptons International.

Young marrieds, meanwhile, are moving out for more space and a better quality of life for their children, but at the same rent.

The data reveals that most of these rental exiles, thought to number about 50,000 a year, stay within a short hop of central London.

Trains from Sunbury, one of Spelthorne’s more popular towns, take 48 minutes to London and an annual season ticket costs from £2,432.

Trains from High Wycombe, which arrive into London Marylebone in just 27 minutes, will have a cost of £3,556.

The next most popular renting location is Epping Forest, where Londoners can swap modest city parks for almost 6,000 acres of ancient woodland as well as a range of villages in rural south-west Essex.

The same is true for High Wycombe, which offers The Rye Park, one of the largest parks in the district covering an area of 53 acres and offers off-road cycle trails and riverside walks.

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