SUNDAY TIMES SURVEY NAMES RICHMOND AS BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN UK
The London Borough of Richmond is the best place to live in Britain, according to a new Sunday Times survey, based on new data compiled by a team of researchers.
The survey reveals the Borough has great schools, an 80 per cent GP satisfaction and the lowest crime rate in London but with a jaw-dropping average house price of £748.000, which is 42 per cent higher than the London average.
Since 2013, a team of expert judges on The Sunday Times has used local knowledge and critical acclaim to come up with a list of the best places to live in Britain.
Last year’s winner, North Berwick, East Lothian, was praised by the panel for its sparkling seafront and humming high street — and lobster for lunch.
But this Christmas, the Times data team decided to try out a different approach based on date rather than the opinions of judges.
The survey used nine different data sets covering a range of different categories for every local authority in Britain studying crime rates in each area, education through looking at Ofsted reports and “Progress 8”, a measure of how much children improve during secondary school.
Three NHS measures: satisfaction with GPs, waiting times and treatment targets were looked at as well as the number of listed buildings per area, the number of community-listed companies and the number of parks with Green Flags.
Each area was ranked equally based on these measures, and the house price of each area calculated too.
And the London Borough of Richmond came out on top.
| Place | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond | London | £748,000 | 65 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 32 | 1 | 147 | 122 | 8 |
| 2 | Cheltenham | Southwest | £342,000 | 184 | 78 | 28 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 77 | 110 | 30 |
| 3 | Stroud | Southwest | £339,000 | 61 | 194 | 30 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 216 |
| 4 | Merton | London | £579,000 | 84 | 21 | 37 | 23 | 32 | 1 | 249 | 71 | 65 |
| 5 | Ribble Valley | Northwest | £274,000 | 2 | 68 | 59 | 67 | 62 | 27 | 56 | 80 | 216 |
| 6 | Fylde | Northwest | £242,000 | 38 | 46 | 167 | 67 | 62 | 27 | 187 | 65 | 19 |
| 7 | The Cotswolds | Southwest | £491,000 | 34 | 193 | 54 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 160 | 216 |
| 8 | Sutton | London | £439,000 | 72 | 17 | 4 | 23 | 32 | 1 | 257 | 266 | 31 |
| 9 | Chorley | Northwest | £242,000 | 69 | 45 | 46 | 67 | 62 | 27 | 157 | 224 | 22 |
| 10 | Bath and North East Somerset | Southwest | £434,000 | 104 | 168 | 67 | 84 | 109 | 1 | 34 | 86 | 73 |
| 11 | South Hams | Southwest | £388,000 | 225 | 49 | 88 | 77 | 27 | 9 | 5 | 167 | |
| 12 | Lancaster | Northwest | £211,000 | 121 | 209 | 86 | 67 | 62 | 27 | 79 | 37 | 55 |
| 13 | Mole Valley | Southeast | £549,000 | 49 | 25 | 24 | 39 | 48 | 106 | 64 | 180 | 216 |
| 14 | Cornwall | Southwest | £301,000 | 40 | 246 | 195 | 16 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 7 | 215 |
| 15 | Rossendale | Northwest | £204,000 | 84 | 104 | 138 | 67 |