Times votes Saffron Walden Best Place to Live 2025

Historic looks, a high street fit for the 21st century, high-class schooling — and a market that has been trading since 1141 — are among the many reasons why Saffron Walden has been named the best place to live in the UK for 2025 by The Sunday Times.

“In summer, it’s like being in the south of France with everyone milling around,” said India Burrett, 36, a trainee psychotherapist, who moved to the town in 2021 from London with her husband, Sam, a barrister, and their twins, Bodhi and Lyra, now four. “It has a really great vibe.”

The genteel town, 15 miles from Cambridge and 45 from London, heads the annual list of 72 locations and has a food scene that is “defying the Essex stereotypes one aperitif and gordal olive at a time”.

It takes the No 1 spot in the annual guide that also ranges from the Hebridean island of Tiree, with its silver sand beaches, lively community and an airport, to the buzz of big cities such as Sheffield, Glasgow and Bristol.

The list includes some old favourites — Knutsford in Cheshire, Sevenoaks in Kent, Market Harborough in Leicestershire — but there are more new entries than ever and a few locations that may surprise, from Wembley Park in north London to the remote Welsh village of Maenclochog, in Pembrokeshire.

Many previous winners, including Winchester in Hampshire, Altrincham in Cheshire, and York have not made the cut as the judges look for improving locations with a strong sense of community rather than famous names where high house prices are driven by high demand.

The Sunday Times’s expert judges have visited all the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and, for the first time, mobile signal ahead of the shutting down of the 3G network, to culture (from art classes to skateboarding), as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.

“Our guide is unique because we actually visit all the locations on our list to get a sense of what it’s like to live there,” Helen Davies, the guide’s editor, said.

“We talk to locals to find out what they love most about the places they call home. That could be anything from high-achieving schools and reliable commuter links to cafés and culture or somewhere wonderful to walk the dog. More than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong, hard-working communities who love where they live.

“It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, but there really is so much to celebrate closer to home, from small gestures that lift the everyday from verges blooming with daffodils to volunteer-run dementia cafés, to new initiatives from repair cafés to new railway stations.”

The winning town, Saffron Walden, used to have a reputation for being stuffy, old-fashioned and expensive. While the property prices are still high — the average property price is £607,100 — SW is enjoying a swish new lease of life. Incomers are bringing fresh ideas, cool independent shops and tasty places to eat, and local pride is off the charts.

Henry Rowe, 69, spent ten years living in Perth, Australia, but says he will always live in our winning location. “People ask me why I came back and I say Australia has sunshine and beaches but it’s not Saffron Walden.”

As well as crowning Saffron Walden, the judges picked ten regional winners. Together, they represent everything that’s great about living in Britain, from city suburbs full of energy and diversity, such as Walthamstow in London, and friendly, hearty market towns such as Ilkley in West Yorkshire and Petersfield in Hampshire, to Ilmington in Warwickshire and the Chew Valley in Somerset where the energy and creativity of the population ensures that village life is anything but sleepy.