Exeter is the commuter city that has benefited from the most growth during lockdown, based on new analysis of house price increases, number of property sales, job vacancies, wage increases and footfall.

The research, by payment firm Dojo, found that job prospects in the city boomed, with vacancies more than doubling from 1,245 pre-pandemic in January 2020 to 3,278, in March this year and average salaries reaching £36,199.

House prices in Exeter rose from £263,141 to £278,158 from January 2020 and January 2021, while residential transaction numbers also increased.

In order to give each location an overall score, Dojo gave each of the individual data sources an equal weighting to calculate a figure for percentage growth.

Exeter came top of the table with a growth score of 17.9%.

Coastal locations with good transport links to the capital benefited from the trend towards remote working as many city-dwellers ventured further away from urban hotspots.

The second fastest-growing location was Eastborne at 15.9%, which is an 86-minute train journey from the centre of London.

Buyers took advantage of relatively affordable property, prompting prices to  increase from £242,000 to £261,000.

Another seaside spot, Worthing, was the third on the list at 4.6%

Here, average salaries increased from £32,274 to £35,852 and property sales increased from 140 from January 2020 to 174 in November 2020.

Norwich came fourth on the list of the fastest-growing commuter towns and cities at 4.5% and Oxford was fifth at 4.2%.

But growth in some commuter towns actually slowed over the course of the pandemic.

Bridgend in Wales saw the biggest decline. 

The town, which is halfway between Swansea and Cardiff, saw a 34.56% decline in growth compared to the previous year, in part due to fewer property sales. 

Luton saw a 29.51% drop in growth, with footfall dropping significantly more than in other towns.

Salford also saw growth slump, despite having one of the biggest populations of all the towns that Dojo analysed at 258,834.

The Manchester media hotspot, which is home to BBC studios, saw its growth slow by 28.49%. 

Looking at big cities, Dojo found that Bradford took the biggest hit, with a decrease of 24.25% in growth, following lower property sales and footfall.

Newcastle was the next worst-affected city with a decline of 17.23% followed by Coventry with a drop of 15.7%. 

Dojo head of customer insights Jon Knott says: “During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the interest in commuter towns has seen a substantial increase. 

“With working from home here to stay and less time needing to be spent in the office, many city dwellers have decided to relocate from built up urban areas. 

“Despite a longer commute time when venturing into the office, the benefits of generally cheaper and more spacious properties in commuter towns has attracted many to these areas. 

“Notwithstanding fluctuations and instability, the coronavirus pandemic has brought growth to new businesses and has helped consumers appreciate the value of independent businesses. 

With more people now choosing commuter towns as their place of work and leisure, small businesses in the area will enjoy an uptick in footfall.

“Now lockdown is easing, businesses could be set to boom from customers determined to make the most of rediscovered freedoms.”