The secret areas of London that could shorten your commute

The loyal users of Find Properly (hi, mum!) will know about our nifty “commute time minimiser”.

Quick recap for everyone else: you add the places that you go to often (such as work or university), and then we’ll show you where to live to keep your commute as short as possible.  It is made extra nifty by the fact that you can add as many points as you like, so you can include your housemates.

But what if you don’t know where you’ll be going everyday? What are the best connected areas of London?

How the magic happens

Firstly, a quick explanation of how our “commute time minimiser” works.

The “commute time minimiser” knows the time taken between every postal sector in London, as reported by Transport for London’s excellent Journey Planner tool.

When you enter the places you visit, Find Properly can calculate the time it would take for you to travel to every postal sector in London, and therefore select the ones with the shortest commute.

Summary: we know the travel times by public transport from any point in London to any other point in London.

The map below shows the average time it would take to travel to every postal sector in London. The areas coloured blue are best connected, and the areas coloured red are the worst connected.

Click on the image to view the full, interactive map:

It should be fairly obvious that central London is going to be the best connected. However, there are some interesting areas which are well connected but not in the centre of London.

Here are some suggested areas to live in if you want to get around easily, without paying a huge rent premium:

1. Kennington (£330, £430)*
   
2. Bermondsey (£310, £360)
3. Woolwich (£240, £290)
4. Neasden/Dollis Hill (£220, £280)
5. Alexandra Palace (£260, £300)
6. Blackhorse Road (£230, £280)

* (The numbers in brackets are the average weekly rents for one and two bedroom properties respectively, on Find Properly on 26th July 2013).

If you do know where you’re going most weeks, Find Properly can find the areas that minimise your commute. Otherwise we hope this map will be of use!