A Buckinghamshire city has been named one of the best places to live in the UK.

Conducted by the Sunday Times, they have placed Milton Keynes as the fifth finest area to reside in the country, after their experts visited North Buckinghamshire earlier this year.

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

In their evaluation of MK, they said: “Forget the 1970s image of concrete cows, endless roundabouts and ugly architecture, the new town turned city deserves its place on the Sunday Times list.

“It has swathes of parkland, contemplative canal walks and oodles of traffic-free strolling and cycling on the Redways.

“From Bletchley Park to its fleet of delivery robots, MK has been one of the UK’s most willing testbeds of innovation, and it has affordable homes and convenient rail links.” 

Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, says: “This guide is a celebration of towns, cities and villages that are each a fantastic place to live in 2024, from Dunkeld to Knutsford, Falmouth to Leeds.

“Wherever you are on the property ladder, there will be somewhere to suit you.  

“These are all places where you can feel grounded as well as upwardly mobile: they have a mature sense of community, lively, supportive high streets and an eye to the future, whether that is eco-friendly measures, transport and regeneration, or imaginative inclusion of new housing.” 

The 10 top list is as follows:

  1. Folkestone, Kent 
  2. Chorleywood, Hertfordshire 
  3. Farnham, Surrey 
  4. Hove, Brighton & Hove 
  5. Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire 
  6. St Albans, Hertfordshire 
  7. Sevenoaks, Kent 
  8. Stockbridge, Hampshire 
  9. Wadhurst, East Sussex 
  10. Winchester, Hampshire