Commuter Hubs in Yorkshire - Local Area Guide

13 December

Your Guide to Yorkshire’s Commuter Hubs

You’ve spent months searching and going on viewings and you’ve finally fallen in love with a place to live. Now you’ve found your dream home in the perfect location, it’s time to think about the practicalities including how you’ll get to work, how much it will cost and how you can make your commute as efficient as possible, so you can spend more time enjoying your new home.

Yorkshire is a beautiful part of the country and is blessed with some great transport connections, from its easily accessible network of motorways to an effective bus and rail services to get around.

At Strata, we develop new homes in places that balance the best of both worlds, offering homeowners the chance to own a new home with beautiful countryside surrounding with easy access to Yorkshire’s thriving cities.

We know you don’t want to spend your time sat in traffic when you want to be home with your family, so we research travel and traffic data in the areas we build when choosing where we build.

Average commute times are falling

Figures from the Department for Transport released in 2015 showed that over the last 20 years the average commute to work has fallen to just 31 minutes in each direction. We all value our leisure time more and more, and this is made even easier by being able to work from home and the ever-improving transport connections.

If you’re thinking about extending your commute for a larger home and better quality of life then you’ll need to seriously consider what is involved. Here we’ve compared the cost – in both time and money – of commuting to three of Yorkshire’s largest and most popular cities from the surrounding towns and villages, so you can weigh up the pros and cons of buying your new home in Yorkshire.

Leeds: one of the biggest transport hubs in the Nor

Leeds is widely regarded as one of the north’s biggest and most popular transport hubs, and it is home to the third-busiest train station outside London.

Rail services in Leeds are available to towns and cities throughout the local area and beyond, with direct services available to London and Edinburgh. There are some great connections to local stations that serve as commuter hubs for those living outside the city centre including Seacroft – the location for our Kudos and Ambition developments, Cottingley, Woodlesford and Garforth.

We’ve taken a look at four commuter hubs for Leeds – Seacroft, Bradford, Wakefield and our Panache development inSherburn in Elmet – to see what impact they would have on your daily transport budget if you lived there.

The property market in Leeds: a snapshot

Data from Home.co.uk shows an average rise of 12% on property prices in the centre of Leeds over the course of the last 10 years, while Rightmove figures point to an average house price of £188,070 across the city.

Move slightly outside Leeds and it’s noticeable that prices start to fall. For example, the suburb of Seacroft is only 6 miles away but property prices are on average £164,642 lower than they are in the city according to Zoopla.

Sheffield: a popular destination for commuters

Sheffield is fast becoming one of the UK’s most popular commuter cities with an estimated 1.4 million people of working age living within an hour’s commute and travelling from places such as the Lower Don Valley and Dearne Valley which covers Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham.

Getting into and around Sheffield is easy compared to many other UK cities; while the city offers a central train station, bus interchange and tram services.

Doncaster, Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield are all popular, well-served towns near Sheffield; but is there any value in commuting into Sheffield?

The property market in Sheffield: a snapshot

Over the past decade figures from Home.co.uk have shown a 14% rise in average house prices throughout Sheffield with Rightmove data showing the average house price in Sheffield is £178,448.

In contrast, towns outside Sheffield haven’t seen the same significant price rises and continue to offer affordable alternatives. The cost of commuting into Sheffield, therefore, is low and with the cost of a new home dropping as you move outside the city, there can be a real financial benefit to living in any of these commuter towns.

York: a desirable location with a premium price tag

Consistently ranking as one of the UK’s least affordable places to live, York is one of the most beautiful and frequently visited cities but perhaps not one that people would choose to reside in. In fact, the Lloyds Bank Affordable Cities Review shows that out of 20 of the UK’s least affordable locations, only three are outside the south of England – and this includes York.

It’s no surprise that commuter towns and villages near York like Sherburn in Elmet, Seacroft, Tadcaster and Selby have become popular with homebuyers. The A64 runs right into the heart of the historic city, while reliable train services mean you can be in the city in just a matter of minutes.

The property market in York: a snapshot

There are a number of expensive towns and cities in North Yorkshire and Rightmove figures show that the average price of a property in this part of the county stands at £223,428. This is considerably higher than the average of £172,305 recorded in West Yorkshire, the £165,589 in East Riding of Yorkshire and the average of £155,497 in South Yorkshire.

York is no exception with Home.co.uk data showing an increase of 35% on house prices over the last decade and an average property price of £250,915 according to Rightmove. Resuidential areas such as Sherburn in Elmet and Selby are steeped in history and traditional buildings, plus a collection of new developments, with new homes available at a fraction of the prices found in York itself.

*Fuel costs calculated using http://journeyprice.co.uk/, retrieved on 7th February 2017. Petrol price 120.11 pence per litre, MPG of 35 and non-optimal driving offset of 15%. One person per vehicle.

Bus and train times have been calculated during peak commuting hours.