Best Places to Live in the UK for Prime Buyers | 2025 Edition

Garrington Property Finders are delighted to present the Best Places to Live 2025 for prime locations in England, Wales and Scotland.

2025 has turned into a vintage year for the prime end of the property market, with several well-established, highly desirable premium locations coming out on top in Garrington’s Best Places to Live index.

Prime locations typically build up their reputations over time – like the patina on an antique piece of furniture or jewellery – with their appeal accruing through a mixture of beautiful homes, top-tier schools and exclusivity.

But this year the data-led analysis that underpins our Best Places to Live report has also identified a number of other factors that have together propelled dozens of prime locations into the top spots of our highly competitive ranking.

In total, prime hotspots claimed half of the top 10 highest ranked locations in England and Wales, and eight out of Scotland’s top 10.

Quicklinks for reviewing the Best Places to Live in 2025

Garrington has analysed data to identify the best places to live in England, Wales and Scotland and has created helpful tools which allow house hunters to compare places they’re considering when shortlisting locations.

Use Garrington’s analysis tools to compare locations

See the top 10 Best Prime Places to Live in England and Wales in 2025

See the top 10 Best Prime Places to Live in Scotland in 2025

Quality meets value

In many cases, the success of prime locations is being driven by a welcome development in prime market dynamics – improving value for money.

In 2024, the average value of a home in England rose by 4.3% to reach £290,564. The average price paid for a home in Wales rose by 3% to £208,197. Price inflation was even higher in Scotland, with the average Scottish home worth over £12,000 (6.9%) more at the turn of 2025 than it had been 12 months earlier.

Yet our analysis revealed dozens of prime areas where the price of a family home either fell or rose more slowly than the regional average, making quality better value.

Many of the top performers are smaller towns and villages, locations that combine quintessential charm and heritage with connectivity, community and countryside.

How to choose the perfect place for you

If you’re considering a move this year, our Best Places to Live guide can help you identify places in the area you’re interested in that offer the optimum blend of quality of life and strong value.

Our data analysts have identified nearly 1450 cities, towns and villages across England and Wales that all score highly in at least one of five selection criteria – natural beauty, wellbeing, heritage, schools and jobs plus value for money.

Our analysis in Scotland pinpointed over 160 Scottish cities, towns and villages that scored highly in four selection criteria – natural beauty, wellbeing, employment and connectivity plus value for money.

We’re making our national rankings available for free, and you can use the interactive tool below to explore the entire league tables – whether you’re curious to see how your current hometown scores, or just want some suggestions for places that offer more of what matters most to you.

Use Garrington’s analysis tool to compare locations

See the top 10 Best Prime Places to Live in England and Wales in 2025

See the top 10 Best Prime Places to Live in Scotland in 2025

England and Wales

Redbourn, Hertfordshire

The top-ranked location in England and Wales is Redbourn in Hertfordshire. The chocolate box English village has two golf courses and traces its history back to Roman times.

It was also the scene of one of the first cricket matches ever played – the village common first echoed to the sound of leather on willow in 1666.

At £767,501, a typical family home in the village costs well above the English national average and places Redbourn firmly in prime territory.

But average prices in the area have softened by 8.2% in the past year – bucking the national trend and propelling Redbourn to 15th place in the England and Wales value for money category.

How they compare: The 10 best prime locations in England and Wales in 2025

Whitburn, Tyne and Wear

The second highest ranked prime location in England and Wales is the seaside village of Whitburn. Boasting spectacular sandy beaches and within easy reach of both Newcastle and Sunderland, Whitburn has long been one of the North East’s most desirable areas.

Nature plays a huge part in the village’s appeal – its coastal park, run by the National Trust, attracts rare birds, while seals and dolphins can be seen out to sea.

The price of a typical family home in Whitburn fell by 1.6% to £328,699 at the end of last year. By contrast, the average price of a property in North East England rose by 6.7% in 2024.

Marple, Greater Manchester

Hot on the heels of Whitburn in our prime ranking is Marple in Greater Manchester, another consistent contender. In 2024 it came 15th overall in our Best Places to Live ranking, but in 2025 it has risen to an impressive fourth place.

The town is within easy reach of the big city – it boasts two train stations and is just 10 miles from central Manchester – but offers a gentler pace of life with a rural location and canalside walks, along with a farmer’s market, theatre and independent cinema.

Penarth, top ranking in Wales

The highest ranked prime location in Wales is Penarth, an elegant seaside town just three miles from the centre of Cardiff. Famous for its Art Deco pavilion and pebble beach, the town looks out across the waters of the Severn Estuary and came 31st overall in our ranking.

But it’s in the value stakes that Penarth really excels, and it claimed the number two spot in the value for money category. A typical family home there costs £502,497 after average prices softened by 5.1% in a year, making this prime location exceptional value.

St Albans, Hertfordshire

The most expensive location in our prime top 20 is St Albans, the cathedral city in Hertfordshire which came fifth overall in 2025 and narrowly missed out on the top spot in 2024’s ranking.

Located just 20 miles from London, the city is popular with professionals and boasts two millennia of history as well as many good schools, which may explain why the price of an average-sized family home there rose by 0.2% to reach £974,657.

Use Garrington’s analysis tool to compare locations

See the top 10 Best Prime Places to Live in Scotland in 2025

Scotland

Very few areas in Scotland saw prices fall, however our research identified a number of highly desirable prime locations north of the border where price rises have been more modest.

Bridge of Allan, Stirling

These include the overall winner of the Scottish ranking, Bridge of Allan. This former spa town, which is just three miles from central Stirling and dotted with handsome Victorian villas, is nestled at the foot of the Ochil Hills and is home to the University of Stirling.

Bridge of Allan first surged in popularity during the 19th century, when its spa attracted the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Dickens.

While visitors no longer come to take the town’s healing waters, its compelling location and good quality of life saw it perform highly in all four of the categories that determine the overall Scottish ranking.

At £245,544, a typical home in the area costs more than the Scottish national average, but prices there rose by just 4.8% over the past year – which is below the national trend – propelling the town to sixth place in the value for money category.

Dunblane, Stirling

Nearby Dunblane, childhood home of Andy Murray, came second in the overall ranking and scooped the top spot in the natural beauty category thanks to its stunning countryside and riverside walks.

With its central location and range of attractive and historic housing styles, Dunblane came fifth in Scotland’s value for money category.

The 10 best prime locations in Scotland in 2025

The next three spots in Scotland’s 2025 Best Places to Live were all claimed by prime central belt towns within easy reach of Edinburgh.

Loanhead and Penicuik, Midlothian

Third-placed Loanhead and fourth-placed Penicuik both sit a few miles south of the capital in Midlothian, and their combination of quick transport links into the city centre and abundance of well-paying jobs helped them post strong scores in the employment and connectivity category, in which they ranked 24th and 32nd respectively.

Queensferry, Edinburgh

Fifth-placed Queensferry offers pretty cobbled streets and unmatched views of the Forth Bridges and across the River Forth.

Its rich heritage and attractive waterside cafes and restaurants have long made it a popular place to live, and its excellent rail connections into Edinburgh and north into Fife powered it to 13th place in the employment and connectivity category of our ranking.

Officially part of the City of Edinburgh, Queensferry has the most expensive property prices of any of the top 10 prime Scottish locations in our 2025 Best Places to Live ranking.

While the average price paid for a home there stands at £321,948, 70% above the Scottish average, it nevertheless claimed 20th place in the value for money category.

Where next for prime property?

The stellar performance of prime locations in our 2025 Best Places to Live index provides much food for thought for discerning buyers. Three key takeaways emerge:

• The prime markets in England and Wales are currently presenting rare opportunities. In some of the most desirable areas, prices are adjusting, creating openings for strategic buyers looking to negotiate on deals.

• Scotland is offering stability and long-term value. Prime locations north of the border are experiencing healthy growth, making them compelling investment choices.

• Prime property is no longer just about reputation – it’s about data-driven desirability. Today’s most successful locations blend lifestyle, investment security and accessibility.

Find your best place to live

To learn more about individual locations within the Best Places to Live 2025 rankings, you can use the tool below to compare hundreds of cities, towns and villages across England, Wales and Scotland.

Simply type the first three letters of the place you’re looking for into the relevant interactive box. Alternatively, you can view all the locations in a region by selecting ‘browse by region’. Click the ‘Pin me’ button to view scores for two places side by side.

Compare Locations: England and Wales

Compare Locations: Scotland

Getting expert help

If you feel you’d benefit from the guidance and expertise of a professional property buying agent, please get in touch for a no obligation discussion about your plans to move and the services we offer.

Tell Garrington about your search for a new home. 

From city streets to country lanes

In addition to our national research, Garrington’s team of experts offers unrivalled on-the-ground knowledge, with decades of experience sourcing and securing ideal homes for clients across the UK.

Our reach extends well beyond the headline locations featured above, with local insight that often uncovers places which don’t yet appear on mainstream lists but are very much on the rise.

Drawing on this deep local expertise, our advisors have highlighted a selection of hidden gems and emerging hotspots – places that may not have met the broader data criteria for our main research but are nonetheless full of potential, charm, and lifestyle appeal.

To explore these hand-picked recommendations, visit our dedicated page, where you’ll find links to a series of regional articles.

From vibrant city quarters to tranquil rural retreats, we’ve covered a wide range of areas that could be your next great move.

Behind the Best Places to Live research

Each year, our team of property experts collaborates closely with our research analysts to shape the methodology behind this report.

By drawing on a consistent set of trusted data sources, we ensure year-on-year comparability, thus allowing meaningful insights to emerge and genuine trends to be identified.

You’ll find full details of our research methodology and the data sources we rely on in the sections below.

Research methodology

Garrington’s Best Places to Live report 2025 is an impartial, objective ranking based on publicly available data. The ranking is not based on subjective or personal opinions.

Our data team compiled data in up to 18 categories, including proximity to open space, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, numbers of listed and period homes, air quality, crime figures and the percentage of homes with their closest primary school ranked Outstanding by Ofsted.

The analysis included a total of 1447 locations in England and Wales, and 161 in Scotland, with a population of 5000 or more. Our report is NOT a league table of the ‘best and worst places to live’. On the contrary, the research only ranks the best places to live, so being included – whether at number 1 or number 1447 – is to be applauded.

Data sources

A wide range of data sources have been used to create the report’s proprietary research methodology. These include:

The Office for National Statistics, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Land Registry, Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage, DEFRA, BEIS, NapTAN (Ministry for Transport), PCT and Historic England.

Media Enquiries and Intellectual Property

We welcome enquiries from journalists and recognised media outlets regarding our Best Places to Live Research 2025.

Our team is pleased to assist with requests for further information, and members of our senior management team are available for press interviews, subject to availability, please contact us here with such requests.

We are happy to support accredited members of the press, including those from recognised publications and the Press Association.

All research findings remain the intellectual property of Garrington Property Finders Ltd. While we are pleased to share publicly available insights, we regret that our proprietary datasets are not available to third parties.

The use of this content without appropriate credit or acknowledgement of Garrington’s rights is strictly prohibited. When referencing our research, please ensure it is clearly attributed to Garrington Property Finders.