Best places to live in the UK 2025

Key takeaways:

Where you live has a major impact on your life so it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. You may already have a list of criteria for the location of your new home – you might want to be close to work or family, live in a city or countryside setting, or be near good schools. But within these parameters you’ll have a range of options to choose from.

While the best place for you depends on your individual needs and preferences, there’s plenty of information available to help you decide. Whatever you’re looking for, we’ll help you find the one that works best for you so you can enjoy many happy years in your new home.

Best places to live in England and elsewhere

Every year the Sunday Times publishes its Best Places to Live guide. The factors it considers include schools, transport, culture, broadband speeds, access to green spaces and the health of high streets.

Saffron Walden, Essex was voted the best place to live in the UK for 2025, followed by Chelmsford, Essex and Chew Valley, Somerset.

The best place to live in Northern Ireland was Dundrum, County Down, while in Scotland it was Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross, and in Wales it was Rhiwbina, Cardiff.

Garrington Property Finders, which was originally set up by TV property expert Phil Spencer, also publishes a list of the best places to live in England and Wales, as well as in Scotland, each year. It looks at five criteria when making its selections – natural beauty and flood risk, wellbeing, heritage, schools and employment, and value for money (four excluding heritage for Scotland).

Its top three for 2024 are Redbourn in Hertfordshire, Epsom in Surrey, and Whitburn, Tyne and Wear. In its separate Scotland report Bridge of Allan in Stirling came top, a beautiful former spa town just three miles from Stirling. Dunblane in Stirling came second, while Loanhead, Midlothian came third.

Cheapest places to live in the UK

According to the Nationwide house price index, the North is the cheapest region of the UK to buy a home in, with an average price of £169,216 as of September 2025. This is followed by Scotland (£189,863) and Wales (£213,359).

Northern Ireland saw the biggest increase in house prices over the year – they went up by 9.7% on average – while in East Anglia, East of England, saw the slowest growth, of 1.1%.

When it comes to cities, property market data provider Hometrack’s house price index reveals which are the cheapest cities to live in. In September 2025, Aberdeen had the lowest average price at £138,500, followed by Glasgow (£158,700) and Newcastle (£160,800).

Where are the most expensive places to live?

Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive region according to Nationwide, where the average house price is a hefty £527,694. This is almost double the average price for the UK as a whole.

Property Investments UK recently uncovered which are the UK’s most expensive streets. Whistler Square in Belgravia, London, was the priciest, where the average property costs an eye-watering £29.9 million.

Outside of the capital Hollybusy Road, Cardiff is the most expensive street in Wales, with the average home setting you back a mere £1.4 million. At the top end of the scale, a property purchase in Cavendish Road in Weybridge – the most expensive street in the South East – would set you back £6.7 million.

Safest places to live in the UK

Get Licensed looks creates a city safety index, which includes factors like crime rate per 1,000 people, year-on-year change in crime severity, reoffending rates, the number of CCTV cameras in public spaces.

In England, Sutton was the safest place, with a safety score of 8.09/10, followed by Telford and Wrekin, at 8/10, and Kingston upon Thames, at 7.81/10.

Best places to live in London

According to the Sunday Times, Walthamstow in east London was the best place to live in the capital. Bloomsbury, East Dulwich, Stoke Newington, Telegraph Hill, Twickenham and Wembley were the other areas of London it highlighted as top locations.

Homes in these places don’t come cheap though. The average house price ranged from £817,800 in East Dulwich (south east London) to £474,000 in Wembley (north west London).

Whether you want a city or countryside location, or something in between, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to great places to live in the UK.