The beautiful little town full of London commuters despite being an epic 212 miles away
The flexibility afforded to employees since the Covid pandemic has allowed London workers to live hundreds of miles away in a pretty little village in the North.
In the shadow of the Yorkshire Dales, the town of Ilkley is the epitome of a quaint English countryside village.
With its scenic views, clean air and stunning historic buildings, it is no wonder that Ilkley is regularly voted one of Britain’s most desirable places to live.
But its location has often posed would be residents with a potential drawback: its lack of proximity to major UK cities. Exactly 212 miles from London and two hours from Manchester has for years meant that career oriented people have been forced to look elsewhere if not based in Leeds, but not anymore.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, moved to Ilkley in the summer of 2023 after seeing her working habits change significantly. She said: “I used to work one day a week from home at the most, my company was very much office orientated.”
But that all changed when Covid hit and the world became used to the “new normal” while still trying to figure out what that was.
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She added: “My husband’s family are from here so we would often come up and stay and I would work from here.
“I love it here and when I started working from home at least three times a week we started to think about moving here.”
Sally was unsure whether or not her bosses in the London office would approve of her living so far away and so she never told them.
She said: “I travel to London once, occasionally twice a week but get to have the best of both worlds.”
The Ilkley resident can be forgiven for being drawn to Ilkley. According to staff at local estate agents Dale Eddison, many people based in the south prior to the pandemic have moved to the area in the years since.
One estate agent, who did not wish to be named, told Express.co.uk: “There is something for everybody and we are seeing more and more people move here from down south.
“The schools are really good, there is every sports club imaginable, the town has every shop you need, the transport links are great and the views are gorgeous.”
The train from Ilkley to London Kings Cross has a journey time of two and a half hours making it a realistic commute for those doing so infrequently.
Working from home is becoming a more and more established part of working life in the United Kingdom with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that nearly 30% of all UK employees have some form of hybrid working.
This week, it was announced that employers will have to offer flexible working hours, including a four-day week, to all workers under government plans.
The plans, understood to be the brainchild of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, would see legislation introduced that would compel employers to allow their employees to condense their weekly hours into four days.
