The extremely pretty town near Manchester that has been named the best place to live in the UK in 2026

When it comes to finding a new place to call home, everyone has different criteria – but it’s likely that things like safety, green spaces and a good sense of community will factor into most peoples’ decisions. It’s those common factors that property consultants Garrington Property Finders have taken into account (plus a few more) to compile its list of the best places to live in England and Wales in 2026. 

Garrington’s data analysts looked at nearly 1,450 cities, towns and villages across England and Wales. Each place was judged and ranked based on 18 different categories, which included its natural environment, crime rates, wellbeing, heritage and culture, schools, jobs and value for money. 

When all the number crunching was done, town that emerged as the best place to live in 2026 was Greater Manchester’s Marple. 

The survey said: ‘Despite being just nine miles and around 25 minutes from the bright lights of central Manchester, Marple has an understated charm and calm much like the frequently underestimated Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s much-loved sleuth who was named after the town.’

A short train journey from Manchester city centre, the town was praised for its strong community spirit (there are two brass bands and a neighbourhood cinema), its collection of independent shops, its Peak District vistas and its miles of canal towpaths and wooded valleys. 

While average houses prices in Marple sit way above the national average at £517,000 (a seven percent rise in the past year), Garrington said that it’s still a competitive price for Greater Manchester and put it at number 27 in the value for money category. 

Second place in the ranking went to Rawdon, a village just outside of Leeds which offers ‘a blend of great landscapes, panoramic views, and easy access to the city’. The average property there is around £450,000. St Albans down in Hertfordshire – which is far more expensive with average house prices nearing £900,000 – took third place. 

Greater Manchester towns took up a quarter of the top 20. That’s a starkly different story to a recent separate ranking by the Telegraph, which had a top 20 almost entirely dominated by towns in the southeast.

The top 20 places to live in England and Wales in 2026 

Here are all the best spots to live in England and Wales right now, according to Garrington Property Finders.

1. Marple, Greater Manchester
2. Rawdon, West Yorkshire
3. St Albans, Hertfordshire
4. Bramhall, Greater Manchester
5. Long Ashton, Somerset
6. Bowdon, Greater Manchester
7. Stoke Gifford, South Gloucestershire
8. Whitnash, Warwickshire
9. Merley, Dorset
10. Poynton, Cheshire
11. Reddish, Greater Manchester
12. Epsom, Surrey
13. Tring, Hertfordshire
14. Twyford, Berkshire
15. Stockport, Greater Manchester
16. Bristol
17. Bushey, Hertfordshire
18. Hildenborough, Kent 
19. Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
20. Ewell, Surrey

You can use Garrington’s interactive tool to see how your hometown fared here. 

📍 Time Out’s full list of the best places to visit in the UK in 2026.

Plus: The best new things to do in the UK in 2026.

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