Area Guide to Home Counties

For lettings in Home Counties, please use the menu above.

The term Home Counties is a rather old fashioned way of describing the counties which border London in the south-east of England. These counties are Kent, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex. Berkshire does border London at a point but is not really considered, by this imperfect term, a Home County. Middlesex used to be part of this club but has been gobbled up by the sprawl of London, and only now exists as a postal code address.

Kent is the most populous of the Home Counties with 1.33 million citizens, followed by Essex 1.31 million, Surrey 1.1 million, Hertfordshire just over 1 million and Buckinghamshire which is by far the least populous with just 479,000 residents.

One of the fastest growing regions in the country, and it's hardly surprising. Low unemployment, generally high standards of living, beautiful countryside and just a really nice place to live, has attracted a lot of the countries highest earners. People from the north of the country and immigrants have driven the population higher leading to a feel that the infrastructure is under strain.

Probably one of the nicest places to live in the country, Surrey had seen a massive rise in property prices, up until a couple of years ago, making it the most expensive county in the UK outside Greater London. A mass of spacious detached homes can be found across the county, though obviously prices are very high driven by London city workers and their fat bonuses.

Both Buckinghamshire and Hertfordsire follow closely behind Surrey in terms of high property prices and status. Buckinghamshire has more open spaces with the rolling Chiltern Hills and many pretty villages giving the county a slightly more rural feel. The county has many large detached homes and seems to have more mansions than anywhere else. Hertfordshire offers much of the same, being home to the middle classes and those who commute into London.

Essex and Kent are a slightly cheaper alternative for those who want to live in the south-east, though don't expect many bargains.