Recent research from national estate agency, Jackson-Stops, has revealed that homebuyers are willing to spend an average of 38 minutes commuting to work.
The survey of 500 active house hunters last month, demonstrates a reversal of the ‘Race for Space’ trend witnessed during the pandemic and that the ideal commute time is now below the traditional ‘Golden Hour’.
The results may be fuelled by a return to office norms, in which 35% now commute more often to their place of work than they did six months ago. 31% of respondents also said that they now commute to work five days a week or more, with that number rising to 45% for those in London and the South West.
These findings follow wider research indicating businesses wish to see workers back in the office more regularly. According to LinkedIn, in September 2022 fewer than 12% of job adverts are for fully remote positions, as of September 2022, and figures released by the Department for Transport last week showed national rail passenger numbers have returned to pre-Covid levels for the first time.
Jackson-Stops’ research also found that 9% would only be willing to commute for 15 minutes or less and just 3% said they would be willing to commute for more than two hours.
Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops, said: “Calls for people to get back to the office more regularly have once again put a manageable commute back on the radar of prospective buyers. We have much faster train links than we did even five or ten years ago, bringing those peripheral town locations with fantastic transport options back in vogue. Urban living remains popular as buyers strike the balance between convenience and commutability.”
At a regional level, residents in Northern Ireland on average favoured the shortest commute at 27.5 minutes, whereas those in the East Midlands would be happy to commute the longest at 47.6 minutes.
Ian Denton, director of Jackson-Stops Northampton branch, commented: “Working patterns are certainly dictating where buyers choose to call home. Until September last year and the mini-Budget, the halfway house of two days from home and three in the office had become the accepted norm. A longer commute on a part-time basis became a worthy compromise. However, a renewed push by employers to get workers back to the office has led some buyers to reconsider their lifestyle altogether. Choosing a place to call home is such a pivotal decision, with our work-life patterns often governing our property wish lists.”
The research by Jackson-Stops also found that 70% of respondents want to live in an urban location; 37% of which want to live in a city and 33% a town. When Jackson-Stops conducted the same research back in 2019, just 21% of respondents wanted to live in a town, showing a 12% increase in just four years.
Nick concludes: “While there are a number of pros and cons to weigh up when considering a property purchase, it’s clear that commute times can make or break a buyer’s decision. It could be argued that since the pandemic, we simply value the time with our families far more so than ever before, keen to not feel beholden to long travel times and slow commutes. We should also keep front of mind that there are many professions that simply cannot be done from home and will always require a daily commute. For those able to invoke more flexibility to their working patterns, looking further afield has provided opportunities that, just three years ago, would have felt impossible. Striking the balance between a manageable commute and the perfect property requires local knowledge and expertise of the market, presenting options that buyers themselves might not have considered before.”
