Guides & Insights
Data-driven guides on cost of living, crime, housing and more, powered by official government data across 360+ UK areas.
Featured
Best Places for Families in the UK 2026
Every English area ranked by a Family Score combining Ofsted school ratings, safety and monthly cost. Separate Scotland and Wales section, affordable shortlist, and city breakdown.
Crime & safetyCheapest and Safest Places to Live in the UK
Areas that combine bottom-quartile crime rates with below-average monthly costs. Composite ranking from 300+ UK authorities plus regional cuts and a family shortlist.
Cost of livingWhere can you live in the UK on £1,500 a month?
227 UK areas where a single person's monthly cost falls at or below £1,500 covering rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport. Full ranking with regional breakdown.
Relocation guides
Best Places for Remote Workers in the UK 2026
UK areas ranked by a composite Remote Worker Score combining Ofcom gigabit broadband, monthly cost, crime and climate. Worthing tops the list at 88 out of 100.
Best Places to Retire in the UK 2026
UK areas ranked by a composite Retirement Score combining crime, monthly cost, climate and broadband. Isle of Wight leads the south-coast cluster; affordable and coastal picks broken out separately.
Best Places for Families in the UK 2026
Every English area ranked by a Family Score combining Ofsted school ratings, safety and monthly cost. Separate Scotland and Wales section, affordable shortlist, and city breakdown.
Best places to live in the UK
Data-driven ranking of every UK area on affordability, weather, earnings and value. Filters for budget picks, families, coastal areas and each UK region.
Moving to Birmingham: Cost of Living Guide 2026
A practical guide to the cost of living in Birmingham - average rent, house prices, earnings, and what different areas of the city are like to live in.
Moving to Bristol: Cost of Living Guide 2026
A practical guide to the cost of living in Bristol - average rent, house prices, earnings, and what different areas of the city are like to live in.
Moving to Edinburgh: Cost of Living Guide 2026
A practical guide to the cost of living in Edinburgh - average rent, house prices, earnings, and what different parts of the city are like to live in.
Moving to London: Cost of Living Guide 2026
A practical guide to the cost of living in London - average rent, house prices, earnings, and what different parts of the city are like to live in.
Moving to Manchester: Cost of Living Guide 2026
A practical guide to the cost of living in Manchester - average rent, house prices, earnings, and what different areas of the city are like to live in.
Cost of living insights
Where can you live in the UK on £1,500 a month?
227 UK areas where a single person's monthly cost falls at or below £1,500 covering rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport. Full ranking with regional breakdown.
Where can you live in the UK on £1,000 a month?
No UK area currently has average monthly costs below £1,000 for a single person. Dumfries and Galloway comes closest at £1,011. The 15 UK areas that come nearest, with rent, bills and earnings data from official sources.
Where can you live in the UK on £2,000 a month?
320 of 348 UK areas have average monthly costs below £2,000 for a single person. The 28 that don't are almost entirely London boroughs. Full editorial on every excluded area with rent, bills and earnings data.
Most Expensive Places to Live in England 2026
Every English local authority ranked by single-person monthly cost. Kensington and Chelsea leads at £3,324/month, with London boroughs occupying every top-10 spot. Regional breakdown and outside-London figures included.
Cheapest Places to Live in England 2026
Every English local authority ranked cheapest first on our single-person monthly basket. Hartlepool leads at around £1,055/month, with the North East, Yorkshire and North West dominating the top 10. Regional breakdown included.
Cheapest Places to Live in Scotland 2026
32 Scottish local authorities ranked by single-person monthly cost. Dumfries and Galloway leads at around £1,011/month, well below the UK average of £1,481.
Cheapest Places to Live in Wales 2026
All 22 Welsh local authorities ranked by single-person monthly cost. Powys is the cheapest at around £1,105/month; every Welsh area except Cardiff sits below the UK average.
Cheapest Places to Live in the North of England 2026
62 northern English local authorities ranked from Hartlepool at £1,055/month to Manchester at £1,644/month. The widest cost range of any UK region.
Cheapest Places to Live Near London 2026
33 commuter areas ranked by what it actually costs to live there each month. Cheapest entry saves around £820/month versus the London-borough average.
How Much Could You Save by Moving to a Cheaper Area?
Real numbers for common relocation scenarios. Headline savings, salary trade-offs, and the remote worker maths that's changed the equation for a lot of people.
The 10 Most Expensive Places to Live in the UK in 2026
Same calculation as our cheapest places piece, flipped the other way. The most expensive area costs more than double the UK average; every entry on the list is a London borough.
The 10 Cheapest Places to Live in the UK in 2026
We worked out the real monthly cost of living for a single person across 360+ UK local authorities, factoring in rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport. Here's the ten cheapest.
Student cost of living
Heading to university? These guides break down the real cost of student living in the UK's biggest university cities, including rent, bills, and how far the maintenance loan stretches.
Crime & safety
How safe is your area? These guides rank UK regions by recorded crime rate, using official police data.
Safest Cities in the UK 2026
Every major UK city ranked by recorded crime rate. Aberdeen leads at 667 per 10,000, with three of the five safest cities in Scotland.
Safest Places to Live in London 2026
All 32 London boroughs ranked by crime rate. Richmond upon Thames leads at 573 per 10,000, with outer London running roughly 2x safer than inner London on average.
Cheapest and Safest Places to Live in the UK
Areas that combine bottom-quartile crime rates with below-average monthly costs. Composite ranking from 300+ UK authorities plus regional cuts and a family shortlist.
Safest Places to Live in Scotland 2026
All 32 Scottish authorities ranked by recorded crime rate. Shetland Islands has the lowest in the UK at 203 per 10,000 people.
Safest Places to Live in England 2026
251 English authorities ranked by recorded crime rate. Isles of Scilly tops the list at 322 per 10,000; rural districts dominate the top of the table.
Safest Places to Live in Wales 2026
20 Welsh authorities ranked by recorded crime rate. Ceredigion leads at 551 per 10,000; rural authorities dominate the top of the list.
Safest Places to Live Near London 2026
26 commuter-belt authorities with reliable crime data, ranked from Wokingham at 388 per 10,000. Affluent Surrey and Hertfordshire districts dominate the top.
Regional spotlights
Each guide combines editorial analysis with live data from our area profiles. Numbers update automatically when our data refreshes.
Found a place you like? Check any home there.
Enter a postcode for a free preview: last sale price, EPC rating, flood risk and crime nearby.