The Stockbroker Belt is a loosely defined region overlapping the borders of the London metropolitan area and the commuter region surrounding Greater London, particularly in the vicinity of Surrey to the south-west of the city in South East England. While the term "Stockbroker Belt" has been stated to be synonymous with Surrey, [1] it has also been more broadly defined to refer to any wealthy London commuter area, [2] or even as a generic term for any wealthy commuter suburb. [3]
The region takes its name from the history of affluent central London financiers who would commute in from these more rural neighbourhoods. [4] The archetypal large housing defining such a belt is noted for its premium on top of national house prices (among comparator places of similar mid-to-low population density). These match amenity-equivalent parts of London. [5] Due to a high proportion of such housing and many amenities most of the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey has been described as the " Beverly Hills" of the United Kingdom, [6] drawing comparison to the affluent neighbourhood in California.