Commuter home hotspots: Newbury, Berkshire property guide with house prices, time to London, the racecourse, best schools and more

A steady property market can be found in Newbury, less than 60-minutes from London, with easy access to the countryside and strong house price growth.
The shopping's good: Newbury in Berkshire is just within the "magic hour" commute of London
Alamy Stock Photo
Ruth Bloomfield23 November 2017

WHY MOVE TO NEWBURY?

The streets radiating from central Market Place in Newbury offer a good mix of shops, pubs and an improving range of restaurants.

Property choice is wide, with traditional brick-and-flint cottages and Victorian and Edwardian family homes in the town centre; Thirties houses to the south of town; plenty of post-war houses, and dreamy country houses in the surrounding villages.

This Berkshire town has seen a respectable seven per cent property price growth over the year — putting it among the strongest performers for house prices among London commuter towns.

Vital statistics

Average property price: £314,000

Price increase since 2007: 34 per cent

Average price for a house: £382,000

Journey time: 59 minutes 

For young families there are plenty of high-achieving primary schools, while for seniors, The Downs School gets an "outstanding" Ofsted rating.

In the M4 "wealth corridor", Newbury is famous for its racecourse, has its share of golf clubs and is right on the edge of the lovely Berkshire Downs.

There is a town lido, several annual comedy or music festivals, plus a theatre and cinema within the old Corn Exchange.

The two shopping centres include Parkway, for John Lewis and Joules.

"Newbury has always had a very steady market," says Rupert Reeves, a partner at Carter Jonas.

"In the downturns it always holds its own… it is easy to get to a lot of places from here, schools are good and Newbury retains its market town feel."

The average house price of £382,000 buys a modern four-bedroom townhouse or a three-bedroom Victorian house.

ANY DOWNSIDES

Weekend nightlife is meagre and parking in the town centre is almost always a nightmare.

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