How much do transport links affect property sales?

We’re all aware that location is a key influencer for anyone looking to buy a property. But with prices dictating where many first-time buyers can actually afford to live, how important is the location in the decision-making process, and in particular, we wanted to know - do transport links sway property purchase decisions?

The cost of the commute

Landbay.co.uk recently surveyed 2000 tenants to find out firstly if they were looking to get onto the property ladder, and secondly what might stop them from making the decision to move. It seems that work-life balance is one of the most important factors in homeownership decisions in our current climate. The survey revealed that renters who commute, are unlikely to want to move house and get onto the property ladder if it means that they’re going to add extra travel time on to their daily work activities. The average commute time outside of London is 30 minutes. The survey found that less than 10% of renters would feel comfortable adding a further 30 minutes to this time just to make moves into homeownership. It does make sense in reality, because 30 minutes each way is an extra hour a day, an extra 5 hours each week and over the course of a year, 10 whole days’ worth of time lost in travelling not to mention the extra cost of fuel.  

Does parking availability affect property sales?

Although the survey also revealed that most commuters travel to work by car and would prefer a driveway or parking with a property, we don’t always find this rings true in Brighton and Hove. The upper end of the market does command a parking space normally; for example the majority of penthouse apartments within a block will be expected to offer underground parking. New developments are also expected to offer some on-site parking spaces as part of their planning permission and many new developments now offer electric vehicle charging too.

Our city is notoriously difficult to park in anyway, and most people that want to live here have accepted that. In fact, we find that a lot of people who commute would rather get the train than drive, if they can easily walk to the train station from their new home. We are lucky in Brighton and the surrounding areas to have plenty of train stations directly linking to London, even in the more suburban areas of Portslade, Southwick and Shoreham and in village locations such as Cooksbridge and Plumpton, connecting to Lewes.

We are also very fortunate in Brighton and Hove to have excellent employment opportunities with large companies and institutions. We have a digital hub that provides excellent prospects for anyone in the creative industries, a large hospital, two large universities and a number of large utility and finance companies. Therefore, anyone moving to Brighton will find that if the commute does get a little too long, there is always the option to change jobs. The bus links are excellent and Brighton is a very easy city to walk or cycle around too. In summary, if you have a home to sell in Brighton and the wider area you are in luck because the transport links are excellent and it’s unlikely access will have any negative impact on the saleability of your home.

If you would like a free valuation from our Residential Sales Team, which will also help guide you with the expected time to sell, please submit an enquiry here.