A neighbourhood in Brighton has been crowned the best place to live in England.
The Daily Mail compiled a list of almost 7,000 neighbourhoods across the country to see where the best places to live were.
The rankings were based on the following metrics:
- House price rises since 2019
- Crime rates
- Income after housing costs
- Deprivation
- Internet speeds meeting minimum 10mbps standards
- Access to green spaces
- Air quality
- Homes within a 15-minute walk of a train station
Brighton neighbourhood is best place to live in England
Withdean Woods in Brighton topped the Daily Mail's list, scoring well across the factors looked at.
Its combined score was 85.2 out of 100, finishing first out of 6,856 neighbourhoods in England.
Here is how it measured when judged across eight metrics:
- House price change +56.1%
- Income after housing £37,400
- Crime rate 42.7 per 1k
- No deprivation 59.1%
- Air quality 6.7µg/m³
- Slow broadband 0.9%
- Green space access 88.4 acres
- Train station access 97%
The Mail said Withdean Woods is a spot "where Edwardian homes on tree-lined streets and sequestered woodland trails are commonplace", adding that "Brighton, as a whole, fell within a desirable 'wedge' which swept through the south east".
Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, told the publisher: "Brighton is an affluent city and is better connected to London better than some other areas so it attracts more affluent people.
"It has also become increasingly cool in the past 25 years so you can imagine the pull that has.
"You tend to find these things become self-fulfilling: affluent people are attracted to an area because of the fundamentals, so it gets a reputation as an aspirational area.
"It becomes a bit of a virtuous circle leading to high-value hotspots."
Why is Brighton a great place to live?
Brighton has often been discussed as one of the best places to live in the UK .
On the r/AskUK Reddit page, a post read: "Lots of threads about the most depressing place in the UK, but which one is the happiest?
"Which city or town just has a happy, thriving appearance and overall feeling?"
One user name-dropped Brighton in the thread, which was met with mixed reactions.
One said: “Possibly is, but I didn't find it a very happy place for disabled people. Very narrow streets.”
Another added: “I used to live in Brighton. I don't think it's an easy place to live. If you're early 20s and don't mind living a bit like a student, it's perfect.
“But as priorities change, it's such a headache.”
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Brighton has also been recognised as a great place to live for other reasons, including its diverse and inclusive community, having been a beacon for Pride for many years, top shops, including independents and highly-rated schools and universities.
Being on the coast, its seaside lifestyle and abundance of places to do and visit are also great reasons to live there.
Do you think Brighton is a good place to live? Let us know in the comments.
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