Grace Removals Blog

The United Kingdom is a popular destination for Australians looking to relocate overseas. While many head straight to London, a new report into the best and worst places to live in the UK may see them looking further afield.

According to a new Quality of Life index from UK independent price comparison and switching service, uSwitch.com, has Solihull as officially the best place to live in the UK, while East and North Ayrshire in Scotland are the worst.

The uSwitch.com study assessed 138 local areas for 24 different factors including salaries, disposable household income and the cost of essential goods, such as fuel, food and energy bills, as well as lifestyle factors such as working hours, life expectancy and hours of sunshine, to provide a complete picture of the quality of life in each region.

Solihull, located nine miles outside of Birmingham, earned its top ranking based on high disposable income, high life expectancy and fast broadband speeds.

While residents of this region pay more for houses and face higher bills, these costs are outweighed by comfortable average salaries of £27,435 a year and relatively high levels of disposable income, which sit at £17,359 annually.

Mortality rates are low and life expectancy is notably high in this area, with men expected to live until 81 and women 84.

Among the least desirable places to live were regions in Scotland, with East and North Ayrshire ranked as the ‘worst’ place to live in the UK. In this area, life expectancy is 75 for men and 80 for women, and the average salary is £24,242 a year. This leaves a disposable income of just £14,430 per year. There is also a lower employment rate, broadband speeds of just 8Mb, which is twice as slow as Solihull, and less sunshine than anywhere else in the country.

While west London was named as the richest region by far – with levels of disposable income three times as much as Nottingham – it was also the most dangerous, with Northumberland the safest.

The top ten places to live in the UK

  1. Solihull
  2. North Yorkshire
  3. Hertfordshire
  4. South Nottinghamshire
  5. Surrey
  6. Warwickshire
  7. Gloucestershire
  8. Northumberland
  9. Berkshire
  10. Oxfordshire

The worst ten places to live in the UK

  1. East and North Ayrshire
  2. Scottish Borders
  3. Lochaber, Skye & Lochalsh, Arran & Cumbrae and Argyll & Bute
  4. Glasgow
  5. Caithness & Sutherland and Ross & Cromarty
  6. Clackmannanshire and Fife
  7. Inverness & Nairn and Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey
  8. Angus and Dundee City
  9. Kingston-upon-Hull
  10. Conwy and Denbighshire

Grace Removals works closely with our UK partners, Doree Bonner, to ensure all Australians moving to the UK receive first-class service from start to finish. No matter where in the UK you choose to live, you can rest assured Grace will make it a stress-free experience.