Edinburgh named 4th most desirable place to live in UK based on culture, nature, housing, crime and more

The Capital comes out at number four in the analysis - after York, Nottingham and Blackpool.

The Edinburgh skyline as viewed from Calton Hill | Richie Chan - stock.adobe.com

Home-buying firm housebuyers4u compiled the league table based on data gathered under five categories - culture, nature, housing, utilities and crime. Edinburgh scored well on culture, utility prices and nature.

The study looked at 10 local authority areas across the UK and gave them a mark out of 100 in each of the categories.

Edinburgh had the top score for culture, which included museums, concerts, restaurants, shopping and nightlife. The Capital was marked at 79.72 out of 100, with York the next nearest on 78.36 and Blackpool in third place on 77.36.

When it came to nature - where the score was based on the number and attraction of greenspace and parks - Edinburgh was marked at 50.27 out of 100, putting it in fifth place after York (100), Doncaster (65.23), Lincoln (57.67) and Glasgow (51.67).

On housing, the Capital tied with Glasgow for the second worst score for housing affordability. Both cities were marked 62.13 out of 100. Only York had a lower affordability score - 44.84 out of 100. The best score for housing affordability went to Blackpool with 96.64 out of 100.

Edinburgh and Glasgow tied again on their utilities score, based on gas and electricity costs and energy efficiency. They were marked at 69.27 out of 100, the fourth highest score after Nottingham (80.98), Lincoln (78.39) and Newcastle (72.58).

And Edinburgh had the second worst violent crime score, based on the annual increase or decrease of reported incidents, with 12.17 out of 100. Only Glasgow was worse on 10.57. At the other end of the table, a decrease in violent crime helped Liverpool to the best score, 58.82.

All that added up to an overall score for Edinburgh of 67.93 out of 100.

The study also named the five least desirable places to move to in 2024 - Slough, Luton, Hove, Basildon, and Gillingham.

Top 10 most desirable places to live in the UK

1 - York 70.75

2 - Nottingham 69.48

3 - Blackpool 68.61

4 - Edinburgh 67.93

5 - Newcastle 66.07

6 - Lincoln 65.81

7 - Liverpool 65.77

8 - Doncaster 65.10

9 - Glasgow 63.19

10 - Leeds 63.15