Winchester named the best place to live

The Sunday Times has revealed the top locations to live in the UK.

The best places to live around the UK have been revealed by a new survey.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live is an annual guide which considers data on things like crime rates, life expectancy and school performance, as well as other factors such as culture, food quality, the availability of green spaces and flood risk.

Judges then decide on the best places to live by region and name an overall winner. Here’s what they decided on this year.

Overall winner

Winchester, in Hampshire, has been dubbed the best city to live in the UK according to the Sunday Times guide. Judges praised its outdoor spaces, community spirit, good transport links, excellent schools, and emerging foodie scene.

Sunday Times home editor Helen Davies said: "Winchester thoroughly deserves its status as the best place to live in Britain. It offers a tasty slice of authentic history, with great transport links and fine schools. It also has an irresistible mix of food, festivals and feel-good factor."

Steve Brine, the city’s MP, praised Winchester’s university and schools, including Peter Symonds College, where 43 pupils have been offered Oxbridge places this year. “We are the ancient capital and our history speaks clearly today, but it’s a modern city with good transport links to the south coast, Southampton airport and London,” Brine said.

However, house prices in the area can be steep. A four-bedroom terraced house in the center costs upwards of £700,000.

In the past overall winners have included Stamford, Lincolnshire (2013), Skipton, North Yorkshire (2014) and Newnham in Cambridge last year.

London

Fashionable Fitzrovia is deemed the best place to live in the capital by The Sunday Times judges. Once known for its student vibe, the area has acquired a bit of style, with the Riding House Café, Berners Tavern and Percy & Founders leading the shift.

The Crossrail station nearby at Tottenham Court Road is also driving a development frenzy in the area. However buying a home in the area will cost at least £750,000.

Picture: Mahlum / Wikimedia

South East

Kingham in Oxfordshire, home to Blur bassist Alex James, is the best place to live in the South East according to The Sunday Times guide.

The Cotswold village boasts plenty of fancy farm shops, two great gastro pubs and is considered a bit of a foodie destination. Residents also enjoy an outstanding primary school and have access to a mainline station with trains to London Paddington taking 90 minutes.

South West

Falmouth in Cornwall has been named the best place to live in the South West for another year. Judges were impressed with the balance of rural and urban life with the beaches and open countryside as well as thriving new industries in creative and digital and marine and renewable.

The area has a lively feel with quirky bookshops, cinemas, art galleries, bars, cafes and restaurants. It also has the basics covered with good schools, good hospitals and a mainline station. Two-bedroom flats on the waterfront go for between £250,000 and £400,000.

The Midlands

The Sunday Times judges think the best place to live in the Midlands is Ledbury, in Herefordshire. as nowhere does community better. The market town is surrounded by lush farmland, boasts interesting architecture in the form of medieval and Tudor buildings and friendly locals.

Residents are resistant to supermarket chains, preferring to keep their high street full of independent shopkeepers. The area also boasts a good secondary school (John Masefield High) and a range of cultural events including a poetry festival. Period properties are hard to come by but a new detached four-bedroom home can be found from £250,000.

Picture: Arena Photo UK / Shutterstock.com

East

The best place to live in the East of England according to the Sunday Times judges is Orford in Suffolk.

The small but characterful town is gaining a reputation as a foodie haven with edible delights like an artisan bakery, a fishmonger and weekly produce market. The town also has a good primary school, beautiful scenery (Orford is located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and lots to do in the shape of regular film nights and concerts.

North East

The top spot for the North East of England goes to Harrogate in North Yorkshire. The town has reinvented itself as a conference and cultural venue, with events like the Simon Bolivar String Quartet and the annual Knitting and Stitching Show.

The area is brimming with independent cafes and restaurants while the station has been given a £1.2 million facelift and the line between Leeds and York has been electrified to cut journey times to less than 30 minutes. The area also has plenty of green spaces, with the Dales just minutes away and a range of outstanding state secondary schools including Harrogate Grammar, St John Fisher, St Aiden’s and Rossett.

Picture: Albert Pego / Shutterstock.com

North West

The Sunday Times guide has dubbed Whalley in Lancashire as the best place to live in the North West.

Judges were impressed with the way the community pulled together after the Boxing Day floods last year. The area is still recovering, with many shops still closed but residents think things will get back to normal by the summer. The area also has excellent schools and a great high street. A terraced house in the area starts from around £225,000.

Scotland

The best place to live in Scotland according to The Sunday Times guide is Stockbridge, in Edinburgh. Resident say the area has the best coffee (Sprio & Co), best food shops (George Bower the butcher, Mellis the cheesemonger) and even the best charity shops.

The area also ticked boxes for good schools, plenty of green space and friendliness of locals. Judges commented that the area feels like a village within Scotland’s capital.

Picture: Kim Traynor / Wikimedia

Wales

In Wales the best place to live is Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan. The small seaside resort is popular with young families that are keen on getting into top schools Stanwell and Westbourne.

Residents also enjoy the shopping centre which judges comment has the feel of a trendy spa town with butchers, bakers, grocers, bars and coffee shops. It’s esplanade is also a draw thanks to recent renovations which has seen the landmark voted most treasured in a poll by National Trust Wales.

Northern Ireland

Seaside town Ballycastle in Country Antrim is the best place to live in Northern Ireland according to the new guide.

The Sunday Times judges were impressed by the selection of traditional shops that ‘hark back to the golden age of the high street’. The area also boasts great local seafood and a lively social calendar including a youth tennis tournament and Ould Lammas Fair. Detached house prices start from £130,000 and no more than a handful ever go for more than £300,000.

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