Stay home, save lives, and save a fortune on travelcards. The coronavirus lockdowns have made working from home obligatory for many, and some of us ain’t ever going back to the office. Employers and employees have seen that remote working works, so they’re quitting the city to work in lovelier surroundings.
The effect on the UK housing market is profound. House prices in the UK are up 5% year-on-year. Homes are selling faster than before the pandemic. Brits are in the market for an extra room to work, but it’s not just about office space: they want a location that functions as an ‘expanded office’ - a town conducive to work, rest, and play.
Resume.io crunched the numbers across 12 categories to create a searchable index of the best UK towns for working from home. We gathered data on broadband speeds, green spaces, café life, even anxiety levels and added it all to this interactive chart. Every town with a population of 1,000-50,000 got a score in every category and an overall total.
The table is interactive, so click on each category to sort the towns by theme. Can you find a remote working haven you could call ‘home’?
Scroll on to see the edited highlights: the top 10 UK towns overall and a map of the top towns for each category.
Escape to the country: Top 10 UK towns for remote working
Our infographic shows the towns that got the highest overall score for working from home. If you’re wondering how much weight we gave each category to get the overall scores, you can check out the methodology at the bottom of this page.
Welcome to the promised Llandough! Just south of Cardiff and cycling distance from the beach, Llandough is a historic Welsh village with a population of a little under 2,000… for now. The area is dotted with ‘county treasures’ to enjoy on your walks, not least due to Llandough’s history as a monastic site and Roman settlement. Llandough is an all-rounder but particularly benefits from being close to Cardiff’s plethora of cafes, just waiting for you and your laptop.
House prices are lower outside of England, and there are no southern England destinations in our top ten. The North West is the best-represented region at the top of the table, in part thanks to its wide-open spaces.
The top UK towns for remote working, mapped by category
Is there something in particular you’re looking for in your digital commute? This map shows the towns that got the highest scores in each of the categories.
Every town has its charms, but when you’re narrowing down your choices, it is helpful to rely on good old statistics. Our study highlights that Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria is the UK’s small-town capital of broadband. The Romans, Saxons, Normans, and Danes all made a home here long before WiFi was a concern, so the area must be alright, too.
If you’re moving to save money, Llandough has the lowest cost of living, and Habergham Eaves has the most affordable property. You can find a nice little terrace here for under £75k. But if you’re desperate to escape the city, you’re probably considering Ightenhill, the ‘low anxiety’ capital of Britain (based on surveys by the Office for National Statistics). Why so chill? Low crime, high hills, and walks along Brontë Way.
Home is where you lay your laptop
The UK is your oyster when you’re not locked into delivering your actual body to the office every day. We found nearly 500 towns that fit our categories of a great place to work your remote job – and there are thousands more that have a lot to offer, too. If you’ve found yourself swept up into the remote working community, why not find your ideal real-life community with whom to pass your time?
Methodology
Our initial list of towns contained 11,924 places in the United Kingdom, collated from lists of civil parishes in England and Wales, settlements and localities in Scotland, and settlements in Northern Ireland.
That list was filtered to include only those with a population between 1,000 and 50,000. This excluded tiny villages and larger cities, leaving 4,607 towns in the list.
Finally, after the data on all the ranking factors was collected, only towns that fulfilled the following criteria remained:
- Broadband speed at least 50 Mbps
- At least 1 coffee shop within 2 miles
- At least 1 restaurant or takeaway within 2 miles
- At least 1 library or WiFi hotspot within 2 miles
- At least 1 park in the area
- At least 1 outstanding school within 3 miles
The final list contains 482 towns across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The list doesn’t feature any towns in the Greater London area as those technically fall into London boroughs and are therefore part of London, which precludes them from participating in our ranking.
Data and sources
Population - Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland
Cost of Living - Real Regional Incomes in the UK, Birmingham City University
House Prices - Zoopla
Internet Speed, Cost, and Coverage - Ofcom Connected Nations 2019
Free WiFi Spots - Wiman, Google Maps, Yelp
Schools - Ofsted, Education Scotland, Estyn Wales, ETI Northern Ireland
Parks and Green Spaces - Office for National Statistics, OutMore NI
Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Delivery Option - Food Standards Agency
Life Satisfaction and Anxiety Levels - ONS Personal Well-Being Statistics
Scoring
The overall score has a maximum of 100 points and is based on a selection of 16 factors, which were weighted as follows:
- House Price -- 5 points
- Cost of Living -- 5 points
- Broadband % over 30Mbs -- 10 points
- Broadband % over 300Mbs -- 5 points
- Broadband Avg Speed -- 10 points
- Life Satisfaction -- 10 points
- Anxiety -- 10 points
- Outstanding schools per 10,000 people -- 5 points
- Parks per 10,000 people -- 10 points
- Coffee shops per 10,000 people -- 10 points
- Restaurants per 10,000 people -- 5 points
- Delivery per 10,000 people -- 5 points
- Libraries per 10,000 people -- 5 points
- WiFi Hotspots per 10,000 people -- 5 points
