Not too long ago, we revealed that Slough was the most miserable place to live in the UK, according to research from Rightmove. While it’s helpful to know where you should be avoiding if you’re looking to relocate soon, it doesn’t give you any sort of indication as to where you should go. That’s where the data investigations team at Reach is here to help.
In order to figure out the best places to move to in England, the Reach team split the country into just shy of 300 sections. Then, they analysed house prices, crime levels, quality of schools, access to and quality of NHS care, and amenities like green spaces, in each of them, and did a whole load of number-crunching in order to determine where in the country, statistically speaking, is the best place to live. The findings are not what you might expect – only one London borough even cracks the top 100.
So where should you be packing up and moving to? Apparently, the Forest of Dean, a very green district in Gloucester, is the best place to go. Its greatest asset is its NHS, with nearly 70 percent of patients seen for treatment within 18 months of referral. It also has pretty low crime rates, loads of parks and play areas, and house prices aren’t too expensive. The average home will set you back just shy of £300,000, but that’s pretty standard in the south of England.
In second place was North Yorkshire, largely due to its excellent amenities. It’s well served by railway stations, post offices, pubs, play areas, and parks. Try saying that three times fast.
House prices in North Yorkshire are pretty similar to those in Forest of Dean, with the average cost of a property being £270,000.
Homes cost far more in the third best area, the Cotswolds, where the average house is more than £435,000. For that price, however, you do have some of the country’s most gorgeous scenery right on your doorstep. You also have access to the second most reliable NHS services in England, very good schools and a place without much crime.
All of the highest ranking places were slightly rural, or at least not very urban. Cities generally fared worse in the research, perhaps because of their higher cost of living and, generally speaking, higher crime rates.
The top ten best places to live in the UK according to Reach
- Forest of Dean
- North Yorkshire
- Cotswold
- Stroud
- Mid Devon
- Wiltshire
- West Devon
- Torridge
- Teignbridge
- Ribble Valley
If you want to have a look at the rest of the list, you can check it out here.
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