RESEARCH has revealed the areas where prices are rising fast enough to pay off their owner’s annual rail ticket in as little as eight days.

Zoopla compared property price growth in Britain’s most popular commuter towns with the cost of an annual train ticket.

Homeowners in Esher, Surrey, where property values have risen by £256.66 a day in 12 months, fared the best. The average house price increase would be enough to cover the homeowner’s £2,080 annual rail commute to London in eight days.

Other areas where commuters could easily cover the cost of their annual rail ticket thanks to the increase in their property’s value include Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan and in the West Midlands Stourbridge and Solihull.

In the latter town commuters fork out £745 for their yearly ticket to Birmingham. However, property prices increased by £85.11 a day in 2016, which could cover the cost of rail ticket in nine days.

Meanwhile, Stourbridge was the best performing commuter town in the north with an average £19,588 property price increase, which could pay off the £7,932 annual rail fare to Manchester in 15 days.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: “Rising rail fares will have been unwelcome news for commuters heading back to work this year, but our figures may at least soften the blow slightly for those already living in the suburban locations at the top end of the table.”

Areas that did not fare so well include Greenock, in Glasgow, where it will take homeowners 328 days to pay off their annual rail fare.