House prices soar in London commuter towns while WFH hotspots plunge – find out how YOUR area has fared
New figures reveal house prices are soaring in London’s suburban towns, while the value of properties in former home-based working areas is falling.
Findings show Brits are increasingly returning to the office after growing tired of the WFH trend.
With its promise of a better work-life balance and the ability to live wherever the worker chooses, WFH seemed poised to be a lasting legacy of the pandemic.
But six years later, surprising data showed that the value of homes in WFH hotspots was falling, while the value of homes in suburban towns was rising.
Nine of the ten areas with the biggest increases from January 2025 to January 2026 were commuter towns offering easy access to central London offices.
The Mole Valley in Surrey, which includes towns such as Dorking, has seen the biggest increase in property values, with house prices rising by over £40,000 in the last 12 months to reach an average price tag of £584,291.
The area offers a perfect place for families to settle, with excellent transport links to London set in a semi-rural environment.
Redbridge, on London’s Essex border, was the second most popular area, where average prices rose by £34,961 to around £517,463.
The town in east London is located on the central line of the London Underground, offering fast and frequent services into the city.
East Hertfordshire, about an hour from central London by train, has seen house prices rise by £26,964 in the last 12 months.
This semi-detached bungalow is for sale in Redbridge. The town in east London was the second most popular area, with average prices rising by £34,961 to around £517,463.
A property on the market in the Bishop’s Stortford area of East Hertfordshire. House prices in this part of the South East have risen rapidly, thanks in part to excellent transport links to London
The charming suburban spot, which includes towns such as Hertford and Bishop’s Stortford, offers a cheaper option than the big city, with the average cost of a house around £460,671; this is almost £100,000 less than the London average (£554,422).
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum are once-popular WFH spots, where prices are struggling and have welcomed an exodus of Londoners during Covid lockdowns.
House prices have fallen in Bath and North East Somerset in the last 12 months.
Estates fell £3,160 during the year, with a further £3,751 lost from December 2025 to January 2026. The average cost of a house in Bath currently stands at £402,282.
Meanwhile, in popular Margate on the Kent coast, the value of houses fell by an average of £11,386.
Houses in the area, which has seen a 4.8 per cent increase in population following the pandemic, now cost roughly £260,829, which is £8,000 below the UK average.
Winchester in Hampshire is another popular WFH location to see a drop in property prices as we start 2026, with properties in the cathedral town seeing a £5,845 drop in value in the past year.
Loss of £7,968 per month with £5,845 in the past year.
A house for sale in the Forest of Dean area of Gloucestershire. The value of houses in this region increased by 9.7 percent
A large detached house in Bromley, south London. The value of homes in this area of outer London has risen by over £25,000 to an average of £528,759.
While home values just outside the capital have risen, for those living in the big smoke their home values have fallen.
Homes in Kensington and Chelsea lost an eye-watering £145,832 over the year. Despite this, the average price for properties in the royal borough is still over £1.1 million.
Westminster homes lost £110,366 to property prices in the last 12 months, but the average cost of a property in the UK’s political heartland was £912,812.
Camden properties lost £89,677 last year and now average £794,413.
Across the UK, Scotland has seen a 1.3 per cent annual increase in property values, with the average house priced at £187,716.
The biggest increase in the value of houses in East Dunbartonshire, on the outskirts of Glasgow, rose by £15,230 to an average of £268,372.
Residents of the Shetland Islands, off the coast of Scotland, saw the biggest drop in prices; The average home has lost £22,753 in value.
Homeowners in Wales received a 2 per cent annual increase, taking the value of the average home to £210,186.
The average price of a house in Newport is now £228,431, an increase of over £12,000 since last year.
The value of homes in Pembrokeshire has fallen by £4,891.
House prices in England saw a 1.1 per cent annual increase, with the average property valued at £290,437.
Tom Evans, Sales Director Mortricks The Estate Agency said: ‘This is reassuring news for homeowners watching mortgage rates soaring amid the Middle East crisis.
‘The Bank of England’s decision to keep the base rate at 3.75% is likely to do little to ease the concerns of thousands of mortgage customers nearing the end of fixed-term deals.
‘But rising rental costs despite global turmoil are a good indication that bricks and mortar remains a stable and reliable investment that can weather any storm.’
