Best Places to Live in England (2025 Guide)

How we built this list

This ranking looks at every local authority in England and scores each one on a Neighbourhood Finder index that combines:

• Affordability – typical house prices and how far your budget stretches.
• Family-friendliness – schools, demographics and long-term stability.
• Transport and connectivity – how well you can get to major job centres.
• Greenspace and environment – access to parks, nature and outdoor space.
• Everyday liveability – amenities, broadband and the feel of the area.

Scores are calculated from ward-level data, then aggregated up to local authority level so we can compare Adur with Amber Valley, Barnet or Blackpool on a like-for-like basis.

You can explore the interactive charts below to see how England’s best areas compare on value, family life, commuting and greenspace.

The 20 best places to live in England in 2025

Neighbourhood Finder’s composite index paints a very different picture from older assumptions about “best places to live”. Instead of a South-East-heavy list, the North West dominates 2025, driven by better affordability, strong transport investment, and improving amenities across several metropolitan authorities.

This is a useful starting point, but the best match depends on your budget, commute and what you value most.

Why Tameside leads

Tameside ranking first will surprise many. It’s not a household name like Bath or Oxford. But that’s precisely the point: the data rewards places where affordability, connectivity and everyday liveability align—not heritage appeal or postcode prestige.

Tameside offers house prices around £200k, strong rail and tram links into Manchester (under 20 minutes to Piccadilly from Ashton-under-Lyne), improving schools, and a mix of urban and semi-rural wards. It’s not perfect: some areas still carry legacy challenges from deindustrialisation. But for buyers balancing budget with access to a major employment centre, the fundamentals are strong.

If Tameside doesn’t feel right for you, that’s fine—use the index to find somewhere that does. The goal isn’t to crown a universal winner; it’s to surface places where the data suggests you’ll get genuine value and stability.

What else stands out

• Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Wirral and Liverpool all appear near the top, reflecting rapid improvement in transport, amenities and regeneration.
• Blackpool ranks highly thanks to being one of the most affordable housing markets in England while maintaining strong public transport access.
• Hull enters the top 20 with a compelling mix of very low prices and strong value indicators.
• Overall, North West authorities capture 14 of the top 20 positions, reflecting a major shift in where England’s best value and momentum now sit.

Full Top 20 (2025)

*Typical price based on median recent sold prices. Figures are indicative only.

Best places by English region

Not everyone can or wants to move across the country. To make this list useful whether you’re in Newcastle or Newquay, we also looked at the best-scoring local authority in each English region.

This view shows a few helpful points:

• North East and North West winners still sit around the £130,000–£160,000 mark, even in our top-performing authorities.
• Yorkshire and The Humber’s best performer offers some of the strongest value in the whole list.
• London’s regional winner (Barking and Dagenham) is more expensive in absolute terms but relatively accessible compared with inner London boroughs.
• South East and South West winners are firmly in the £350,000–£380,000 range, reflecting ongoing demand for coastal and countryside-adjacent living.

If you’re tied to a broad region for work or family, this chart is a good starting point for “best in class near me” rather than chasing one national winner.

Best places in England for families

Families tend to trade pure price for a mix of good schools, safe streets, greenspace and long-term stability. Our family score reflects that, and it reshuffles the leaderboard in interesting ways.

Highlights from the family index:

• Isles of Scilly (South West) top the family score, combining tiny class sizes, strong community feel and a unique coastal environment. Homes are scarce, but for those who can make it work it’s hard to beat.
• City of London and Richmond upon Thames underline that some parts of the capital still work brilliantly for families: high-quality schools, safe environments and plenty of parks, at a premium price.
• St Albans, Uttlesford, Horsham and South Cambridgeshire form a ring of high-scoring family areas around London and Cambridge, where buyers trade longer commutes for education and stability.
• Wandsworth, Winchester and Elmbridge show up as classic “lifestyle upgrade” moves for families leaving smaller flats in inner cities.

If you have school-age children or are planning a family, start by exploring the family chart, then drill into individual neighbourhoods inside these councils in the Neighbourhood Finder app.

Most affordable places that still score well

“Affordable” on its own can be misleading: there are areas where prices are low because jobs and amenities are thin. Our affordability score focuses on where relatively low prices coincide with decent connectivity and reasonable local services.

A few clear stories:

• Blackpool, Hyndburn and Burnley (North West) top the affordability list, with typical prices around the £120,000–£135,000 mark. These are some of the last places in England where a full house deposit can still be under £20,000.
• Hull (Kingston upon Hull, City of) and Pendle offer coastal or countryside access with similar price points.
• Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and County Durham show that larger urban authorities can still be within reach for buyers who are currently locked out of southern markets.

For first-time buyers, these places are worth a hard look – especially if you can work remotely or are open to career moves that make the most of the lower cost of living.

Best places for commuters

If your job is tied to a specific city centre, transport can matter as much as the house itself. Our commuter index leans heavily on public transport access, rail links and proximity to major employment hubs.

Unsurprisingly, this ranking is dominated by London boroughs:

• City of London, Islington, Hackney, Camden and Westminster sit at the top thanks to dense tube, rail and bus networks.
• Boroughs such as Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets combine strong transport with improving amenities and access to Thames-side public realm.
• Kensington and Chelsea appears not because it is affordable (it isn’t) but because its connectivity and central access are almost unmatched.

For many buyers, the right move isn’t into Zone 1 itself but into outer London or commuter-belt councils that still benefit from these transport hubs. Use this chart as a benchmark: if a more affordable council has transport scores close to these leaders, it may be a strong commuter choice.

Best places for green space and outdoors

Finally, we look at where you can step out of the front door into parks, rivers and open space, rather than spending every weekend in the car.

What stands out:

• Richmond upon Thames leads the pack, with Richmond Park, Bushy Park, the Thames towpaths and a dense network of local parks.
• Stoke-on-Trent mixes urban living with access to canals, green corridors and the nearby Peak District.
• Broxbourne, Merton and Harlow show that there are still pockets of green on the edge of London and the M25.
• Oxford, Milton Keynes, Epsom and Ewell and Newcastle upon Tyne offer a mix of historic centres, university or employment hubs and respectable access to parks and countryside.

If weekend walks, cycling or easy access to nature are non-negotiable, start by exploring the authorities in this chart and then drill down into individual wards and neighbourhoods.

How to use this guide in your search

A national ranking is never a substitute for walking a street, talking to locals or visiting a school. What it does give you is a shortlist and a sense of direction.

Here’s how to make this guide work for you:

1. Pick your non-negotiables
   Are you optimising for price, family life, commute or lifestyle? Start with the chart that best matches your priorities.

2. Shortlist 3–5 local authorities
   Don’t move to Tameside just because it’s #1. Move there if you need Manchester access at £200k and the composite score confirms your instinct. Use the interactive charts to identify councils where the data matches what you actually care about.

3. Drill down to neighbourhood level
   Inside each local authority, different wards can feel very different. Tameside includes both Ashton-under-Lyne town centre and leafy Mossley; Blackpool covers both the promenade and quieter residential streets near Stanley Park. Use Neighbourhood Finder to look at specific neighbourhoods, school catchments and crime patterns.

4. Sense-check with real-world visits
   Visit at different times of day, walk the school run, test your commute and check how the high street feels in the evening. Data tells you where to look—your gut tells you where to live.

5. Stress-test your budget
   Compare typical prices in your shortlisted areas with your budget and mortgage options. A council that looks slightly more expensive on paper may still be the better choice if it reduces long-term travel costs or keeps children in local schools.

Methodology and limitations

A few important notes on how to interpret this ranking:

• Coverage – This guide covers England only. Separate guides will follow for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as data coverage matures.
• Spatial level – Scores are built from neighbourhood (ward/LSOA) data, then aggregated up to local authority level using population-weighted averages.
• Indicators – The index uses a mix of prices, schools, crime, greenspace, broadband and transport indicators. No single metric dominates; the goal is to capture places that are consistently good rather than extreme on just one thing.
• Normalisation – Scores are normalised within England so you can compare a London borough with a northern metropolitan or a rural district on the same 0–100 scale.
• Timeframe – Data is drawn from the most recent complete releases available in 2024–2025. Markets move; use this as a snapshot, not a guarantee.

Data can’t tell you which street to fall in love with. What it can do is narrow the search from 300+ English local authorities to a realistic shortlist, and give you confidence that you’re looking in areas where the fundamentals stack up.

If you’d like a deeper dive into any of these councils – or a personalised shortlist based on your budget, commute and family needs – Neighbourhood Finder can generate a tailored report in a few clicks.