Plymouth has been rated as one of the best cities in the UK to live in (Image: Getty)
A south-western UK city has been crowned as one of the best places to live – and there’s more than one factor pointing to its success. Plymouth, home to 264,000 residents, has been highly rated thanks to its job opportunities and affordable housing.
It sits among its neighbours, Exeter and Bristol, as being three cities where people report to have a good work-life balance and easy access to countryside and open spaces.
While the ranking is good news for Plymouth, its new-found glory has been somewhat tarnished by its historically rough reputation.
TripAdvisor offers a mixed-bag of reviews, with some labelling it as grey and forgotten, while others say it’s a friendly and welcoming city.
Anti-social behaviour, drug-taking hotspots and a rundown seafront are among some of the factors that contribute to its image.
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Plymouth’s jumped up to top place in terms of affordability and work-life-balance (Image: Getty)
Like many struggling high-streets, Plymouth suffers from boarded up shops – and its city centre is not always teaming with crowds of shoppers, The Telegraph claims.
The prestigious ranking, issued by PwC, a south-western accountancy firm, comes from its Good Growth for Cities Index, with Plymouth and Bristol the highest and second-highest performing cities respectively.
It looks at 51 of the country’s largest cities and assesses them on economy – including jobs, income and work-life balance. It also focuses on travel time to-and-from work, its high street, environment and business start-ups.
It says: “Plymouth’s strong improvement from sixth to first in the Index is due to high scores on work-life balance, income distribution and jobs.”
The city itself is not short of things to do – it has a whopping four cinemas, a museum, a picturesque waterfront and a huge lido frequented by locals in the warmer months.
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It is regularly named as one of the most affordable UK cities, with university students 26 percent better off studying here than if they were in London. Its close proximity to Dartmoor and Cornwall also makes it a particularly attractive place to down roots.
According to the Office of National Statistics, the average house price in the city is £224,000 which is a two percent jump from July 2023. It sits £84,000 below England’s national average.
On the other end of the spectrum – the index has revealed a steep decline from last year’s analysis, with the average house costing more than eight times the average salary. This has doubled from the 1990s.
Cities with the largest social housing waiting lists, such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle, are among the lowest performing cities in the Index.