Sunday Times Best Places To Live 2024: Leeds crowned the best place to live in the north of England

The Sunday Times has released its annual Best Places to Live guide - and Leeds has taken the top spot in the region.

Seven other locations in Yorkshire and the North East are featured in the guide, including Leeds village Boston Spa.

The Sunday Times judges said: “Leeds has established itself as the true northern powerhouse and is the perfect place to enjoy a good life on a good salary.

“Leeds has the best-paying jobs outside London. Five universities provide youthful energy and it’s the only UK city outside London to have its own opera, ballet and theatre companies.

“The markets, Victorian arcades and Trinity Leeds megamall make it one of the country’s top shopping destinations and there’s a great choice of places to live, from semi-rural suburbs such as Alwoodley and Horsforth to the new eco homes in the city-centre Climate Innovation District.”

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live Guide 2024 includes 72 locations across the UK and was released online today (Friday March 15).

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The judges visited the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.

As well as placing Leeds at the top spot in the region, judges singled out Boston Spa for praise.

They said: "This handsome village on the banks of the River Wharfe may never have made it as a spa resort, but it has more than made up for it now.

"People now clamour to live in one of the beautiful, honey-coloured homes clustered around a thriving high street, which has buzzy restaurants and bars, upmarket shops and even a gin distillery.

"With sports clubs and a scarecrow trail, there’s community spirit aplenty as well as a secondary school that was rated outstanding in all areas when it was inspected last year".

There is a record number of new entries in this year’s guide and previous winners, including York, have dropped off completely. Judges said they were looking for “improving locations with a strong sense of community” rather than “famous names with high house prices”.

Ilkley was crowned the best place to live in Britain in the 2022 Guide, while three West Yorkshire locations made last year’s list.

In November last year, Leeds was crowned the home of the highest-paying jobs outside of London, beating salaries in cities including Manchester, Bristol and Cambridge.

The research found the average advertised pay for local jobs stood at £38,700.

The attractive salaries were attributed to companies like Asda, First Direct, Yorkshire Bank, Centrica, Evri and Direct Line calling the city home, as well as Channel 4 having set up its headquarters here.