Britain's Worst Places to Live

Posted on 13/09/2016

Thinking of moving house anytime soon? Edinburgh might just be the place. With its low crime rate, high salaries, affordable property prices and cheap electric bills, the Scottish capital is “UK’s best place to live” according to a 2015 study of uSwitch. Unfortunately, some cities didn’t do quite as well.

When it comes to quality of life, there is a noticeable difference among the various regions and areas in the UK. The ranking takes a look at over 130 UK regions and considers a number of factors, analysing a wide range of data. Along the traditional factors like average income, unemployment rates and housing and renting prices, the study takes into account availability of convenient services such as broadband internet speeds and phone coverage too. Wondering what relocation destinations to avoid? We’ve named and shamed the 10 worst places to live in Britain.

10. South Teesside

South Teesside ranks 129 out of 138, making it one of our 10 worst places to move to in the UK. One of the main reasons behind the region’s poor performance is the lack of a healthy work-life balance. Although the house prices in the area are fairly low compared to other places in the UK, the rent is quite high. If you are thinking of moving house to South Teesside, you may need to take these factors into account.

9. East of Northern Ireland

The east part of Northern Ireland is not doing so great since the last study in 2013.The poor work-life balance in the area has a negative impact on the general quality of life. This part of the country suffers from low income and high unemployment, but the low house prices are a good reason to point your removal van to the East of Northern Ireland.

8. Central Valleys

The Central Valleys cover two areas in Wales – Rhondda Cynon Taff and Merthyr Tydfil. The region ranks 8th on the list because of its high unemployment rates and rent prices. The property prices are low, but so are the broadband speeds. If you are planning a house removal, you may want to consider these factors.

7. Devon

With high living costs and low income, Devon is the 7th worst place to live in Britain. The high house and rental prices make moving house to this area pretty difficult and uneconomical.

6. Blackpool

Low wages and the poor job market conditions make Blackpool an unattractive house removals destination. It is not all bad news for the residents of the area though, who enjoy fairly good broadband speeds and great mobile phone signal coverage.

5. West and South of Northern Ireland

While the average income in this region is below the UK standards, the living costs are unusually high compared to other areas with similar employment and income rates. The poor communication technology and the exceptionally high rents only add to the weak performance of this area.

4. Eilean Siar/ Western Isles

Although the residents of the Western Isles work over 45 hours per week, they have fairly low incomes. The good news is that the property prices are reasonably low which may appeal to prospective movers. What set the region apart from other low-income areas in the UK are the unreliable modern services such as mobile coverage (only 29%) and broadband speeds (5.3Mbps).

3. North of Northern Ireland

The area has shown a major decline since the last study in 2013. The north part of Northern Ireland is experiencing serious unemployment issues with only 59% of the population being employed. Despite the low average income, the living costs in the area are considerably high. If you are planning on packing your goods in the removal van soon, you may want to avoid this part of the UK.

2. Kingston upon Hull

In terms of income, this region is not among the worst in the country. Rent and property prices are not exceptionally bad either. The low employment rates and the low incomes rank this area next to the worst place to live in the UK.

1. Bradford

Bradford is officially the worst place to live in the UK. The town has some of the lowest incomes and employment rates in the country. Unfortunately for the prospective movers, the house and rent prices don’t reflect the wages in the area.