The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t just made us rethink how we work; it’s made us question where we want to live. Suddenly moving to the country seems less of a pipe dream than ever before.
It feels pretty fitting, therefore, that the small town of Stroud in the Cotswolds has just been named the UK’s best place to live by The Sunday Times.
According to the publication’s panel of experts, the historic market town has “a unique independent spirit that comes to the fore in its impressive local food scene and at the brilliant weekly farmers’ market that brings the town and surrounding countryside together”.
Stroud is surrounded by the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: definitely an asset now we’re realising how much access to nature can benefit our mental health.
It also has excellent transport links. A direct train to London Paddington takes around 90 minutes, while Bristol is around a 45-minute drive away. The city of Gloucestershire (10 miles away) and the large spa town of Cheltenham (13 miles away) are even closer.
The average rental property in Stroud will set you back £711 per month, though for that price you’d probably get two bedrooms rather than one. The average starter home comes in at around £195,000, which is comfortably under the UK‘s average property price.
Elsewhere in The Sunday Times‘ best places to live list, Teddington near Richmond is named the best place to live in London, reflecting the growing popularity of the capital’s leafy (and often cheaper) suburbs.
Ilkley – a spa town within easy commuting distance of Leeds and Bradford – is named the best place to live in the North and Northeast.
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