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This is officially the best place to live in the UK (if you have lots of money)

The Sunday Times has just released its annual ranking of the country’s finest towns and villages

Chiara Wilkinson
Written by
Chiara Wilkinson
Deputy Editor, UK
Green hills and a house with turrets
Photograph: Shutterstock
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Thinking of moving house this year? If you happen to have a fair amount of money and care about what The Sunday Times has to say, you’re not going to want to miss this.

The newspaper has just released its annual ranking of the UK’s best places to live. The Sussex market town of Wadhurst (population 5,000) topped the bill, praised for its rolling hills, starry night skies and quaint cottages. The judges also highlighted the town’s good schools, convenient transport links, bustling high street and close-knit community. 

The list took into account factors including transport links, culture, broadband speeds, access to nature and the state of high streets. Seventy-one other locations also made the list, with a winner crowned from each region of the UK.

Crouch End was named the best spot to live in London, beating Notting Hill and Beckenham, while Dunkeld, Perthshire, was crowned the best place to live in Scotland and Liverpool beat Manchester for the top spot in north-east England.

Here are the best places to live in the UK in 2023, according to The Sunday Times:

Overall winner: Wadhurst, East Sussex

East of England

Winner: Saffron Walden, Essex
Aylsham, Norfolk
Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Buckhurst Hill, Essex
Dedham Vale, Suffolk
Felixstowe, Suffolk
Norwich

London

Winner: Crouch End
Beckenham
Hackney borders N1 and E8
Earlsfield
King’s Cross
Notting Hill
Woolwich

Midlands

Winner: Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Digbeth, Stirchley, Birmingham
Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire
Great Malvern, Worcestershire
Market Harborough, Leicestershire
Melbourne, Derbyshire
Rutland

Northern Ireland

Winner: Donaghadee, Co Down
Ormeau, Belfast
Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh

North and north east England

Winner: Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear
Holmfirth, West Yorkshire
Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Leeds
Ouseburn, Newcastle
Sheffield
Thirsk, North Yorkshire
Wooler, Northumberland

North west

Winner: Liverpool
Manchester
Penrith, Cumbria
Rawtenstall, Lancashire
Sale, Greater Manchester
Stockport, Greater Manchester
Tarporley, Cheshire

Scotland

Winner: Dunkeld, Perthshire
East Linton, East Lothian
Portobello, Edinburgh
Shawlands, Glasgow
Newport-on-Tay, Fife
Orkney
Tighnabruaich, Argyll and Bute

South east England

Winner: Chichester, West Sussex
Alresford, Hampshire
Brighton and Hove, Seven Dials
Folkestone, Kent
Guildford, Surrey
Lindfield, West Sussex
East Oxford
Reading, Berkshire
Reigate, Surrey
Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire

South west England 

Winner: Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Bishopsteignton, Devon
Bristol
Broad Chalke, Wiltshire
The Chew Valley, Somerset
Marlborough, Wiltshire
Penzance, Cornwall
Poundbury, Dorset

Wales

Winner: Ruthin, Denbighshire
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
Barmouth, Gwynedd
Pontcanna, Cardiff
Gower Peninsula, Swansea
Narberth, Pembrokeshire
Solva, Pembrokeshire

You can check out the full list here.  

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