Pay more, travel less

Half of people say they would pay more to live closer to work.

16:47 27 May 2004

Half of people say they would pay more to live closer to work.

The research, conducted by the recruitment website reed.co.uk, discovered that two out of five commuters found their daily commute even more stressful than four years ago.

Of the 7500 surveyed, 35 per cent said they were prepared to pay an additional premium of between five and 30 per cent on housing to ease the commute and improve the quality of their working day.

The managing director of reed.co.uk, Dan Ferrandino, says: "The desire to start the day fresh and upbeat means the UK workforce would pay even more on somewhere to live if it meant an easier journey to work."

According to the survey, over the past year one in three workers have thought about changing where they live in order to improve their commute. On top of this one in ten have actually moved house to make life easier.

Mr Ferrandino added: "A stressful commute cannot only get you off to a bad start or wreck a relaxing evening; it also makes you less productive at work.

"Time spent harmonising your career plans with where you live can reduce the commuting nightmare and improve the quality of your life."