There's no place like home

Riding a train may not be as joyful as clicking a pair of ruby slippers, but there is a kind of magic to the new one-to-two-hour commute, because if you’re only in the office a few days a week, what does a little extra journey time matter, when it increases your buying power? With the flexible-working ethic broadening our horizons, you may find yourself shopping for a bigger, better house, without actually spending more money

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THE countryside just got bigger. Did you notice? Whatever mandates bosses issue about returning to the London office, one thing that the tumultuous past few years have taught us is that life is for living. We’re been forced to re-evaluate what’s really important and, for most of us, the good life does not involve spending 15 hours a week on a packed commuter train.

Flexible, hybrid, WFH, WFB or W-in-pyjama bottoms-with-a-Zoom-worthy-shirt-on-top —whatever you want to call it, homeworking is here to stay, which means the property market has broken free from its golden-hour up to those commuting into the capital, charming towns and villages where, for a slightly longer trip, you’ll get more house for your money and an extra spring in your step. This week, our focus is the area to the north of London, from Leamington Spa to Northampton, Grantham and even North Yorkshire.

North of the (imaginary) wall

On the Chiltern Railways line from London Marylebone, the Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa, with its wide boulevards and ‘countryside feel’, has been repeatedly ranked the best or happiest place to live (Rightmove,