It appears commuters are better off living outside London - even with the price of train travel included. * Search for prime property for sale in the Home Counties The cost of living is significantly cheaper for those who venture outside the capital into the 'commuter belt.' Life in places like Brighton, Crawley and Reading, for instance, could save commuters more than £300 a month says a report by the Mortgage Advice Bureau The study comparing commuters' mortgage repayments and travel costs with the cost of a mortgage on an average-priced property in London and a Travelcard has discovered a lifestyle outside the capital could be financially healthier than one inside the city itself. Other good commuting hot spots where money can be conserved include Milton Keynes, where travellers can save £550.69 a month; Bedford (£532.29); Eastbourne (£448), Cambridge (£418.42) and Kingston upon Thames (£40.13). However, commuting might not be all it is cracked up to be. Workers are spending almost twice as much time commuting than five years ago, because of unreliable public transport and crippling traffic jams, says employment law firm Peninsula, who recently carried out research into how long it takes to get to work for those who live on the periphery of towns and cities. * Search for prime property for sale in the Home Counties
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
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Polluting water executives now face up to two years in prison, but will the new laws make much of a difference?The Government has announced that water company executives caught covering up illegal sewage spills could now be imprisoned for two years, under new laws — but many still have their doubts.
