The Telegraph's best commuter town is...

Telegraph

22-04-2025

As the train snakes north from Liverpool Street station, past high rises and through gritty industrial suburbs, the landscape soon gives way to lush greenery and winding waterways.
Just half an hour after we leave, the train trundles into a quintessential English village.
Welcome to Roydon, a picturesque place with barely 1,500 residents – which has been named The Telegraph's best commuter town for London.
To locate it, we analysed a million possible variations of our new interactive tool, adjusting six key metrics. House prices, great schools and green space were all considered, alongside entertainment, travel time and season ticket prices.
Nestled in between a modern marina on one side and acres of greenery on the other, Roydon has come top of the list.
Located on the Essex and Hertfordshire border, Roydon is west of Harlow and just 16 miles from Stansted Airport. With famous residents including actor Ray Winstone and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour over the years, its new rating comes as little surprise to those who call it home.
One of them is Cheryl Lake, 41, who works for a financial services firm. She and her husband have been commuting from there for two decades.
'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,' she says.
'We're four stops from Liverpool Street. It's a fantastic route, half an hour and you're in. When I first moved here, my office was near Liverpool Street, so I was having a shorter commute than most of my colleagues who lived in London.
'We're made to feel so welcome and part of everything. We've recently had a child and it's a fantastic place to bring up a little girl.'
At the heart of the village is the winding high street. Greenery lines both sides and every house seems to have a unique appearance, each as ornate as the last. Villagers greet each other warmly, the dogs addressed affectionately by name.
A market runs on the second Saturday of every month and it hosts its own annual art show, with more than 300 paintings on display. The People of Roydon, a community group, offers events like 'Fish and Chips Friday' and the annual Easter Egg Hunt.
There's a walking group every Thursday, a men's curry evening and a golf society. Indoor bowls, badminton and the Women's Institute are also on offer.
Thriving football and cricket clubs are near the heart of the village. You could also walk a different local footpath every week and it would still take you over a year to complete the whole set. Across from the lush village green, a set of stocks remains in place, fondly regarded as a nod to yesteryear.
The village feel was certainly part of the draw for Jess Wells, a barrister with chambers based in London. She commutes once or twice a fortnight and has become actively involved in village life, including as a church warden, in the 18 years she's lived there.
She says: 'We were looking for somewhere a bit more rural. We looked on Rightmove and there was Roydon. We came on a cold February night and thought, 'If we still like it on a cold February night, that's got to be good'.
'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.'
For those who are making trips into London, the train runs every half hour and takes around 37 minutes – less than the average 46 minutes across The Telegraph's sample.
A season ticket costs £3,604, well below the London commuter average of nearly £5,000. For those who prefer a cheaper option, nearby Epping and its ready access to the Central Line is just 18 minutes away by bus.
The average price is a little steeper than average at £510,000, considerably higher than neighbouring Harlow's £363,000.
Despite its easy location, some residents, like Vern Lacey, 51, aren't keen to go back to the early morning commute. He worked in IT in the City for 30 years, but bought a holiday home in Roydon Marina Village and uses it as a base between frequent trips abroad.
'That's what this life gives us,' he says. 'We went to Sri Lanka, we went to Lanzarote. We own the holiday home and just go around the world. We have no plans to sell anything.
'Everyone says hello, even strangers who rent a barge for the weekend. Everybody's normal, there are no egos.'
For families, the local school was rated 'Good' by Ofsted, and every single house is within a 15-minute walk of a large green space.
Roydon's demographic is slightly older, with the median age sitting at 48 compared to the national average of 40. Most people own their home and almost all were born in the UK, according to the latest Census.
However, the overriding sense is of community regardless of age or background – something that shines brightly at the local church's twice-weekly coffee morning.
June Clark, 80, was a dinner lady and worked in the village post office for nearly 20 years. Several generations of her family have lived in Roydon.
'It's lovely. [There's] obviously a lot of new people, it's expanded so much,' she says. 'There were just three families when I was born. My mother was born here, my daughter lives here as well. She wanted the children to grow up in the countryside like she did.'
Brenda Harley, also 80, says: 'We live a lovely life here. I would never move back because I love it here. It's a sense of community, people look after each other. When people move here, they don't appreciate that the only thing that gets them out is the undertaker.'
Roydon has two local pubs, complete with sun-trap beer gardens, and an Indian restaurant, while the nearby Morrisons Daily provides shoppers with all the essentials.
Mary has run one of the pubs, the New Inn, for the past 33 years. Much to the dismay of local residents, she's finally hanging up her apron and retiring next year.
Reflecting on her time, she says: 'It's been really nice. It's a lovely village, people are very friendly and look out for each other.
'It has been tough at times, the Covid crisis, 2008 [the financial crisis]. But we're still here.'
So are the people of Roydon. And they aren't leaving any time soon.