The UK’s most picturesque places to live

There are many factors to consider when it comes to choosing a place to live. While in the past, proximity to the office would have been a major consideration for those looking to relocate, nowadays remote and hybrid working allow for more flexibility.

Here at Hammonds, we surveyed 2,000 UK adults to find out more about the nation’s housing preferences and found that the majority (57%) consider the beauty of the surrounding area as an important factor.

To find out more, we asked the public to choose which locations they find the most picturesque and compared local house prices to the UK average to reveal whether living in a beautiful area necessarily always has to cost more.

In fact, our research shows that there are many affordable ‘hidden gems’ which offer similar environments to the most well-known spots.

 

Where are the most picturesque places in the UK?

In first place, the county of Cornwall is home to the iconic harbour villages like Fowey and Falmouth along the Cornish Riviera. Drawing in weekenders and holidaymakers from across the country, St. Michael’s Mount was also named the UK’s most instagrammable spot last year.  

Buying a house in the most beautiful county doesn’t come cheap though, with house prices averaging at £341,000, 20% above the UK average!

Coming second, the Lake District is an attractive alternative for those who like being close to nature. On average, a house in the National Park costs £291,000, which is just 2% more than the national average.

Ranking in third place, Yorkshire is even more affordable option, with an average house price at just £235,194, 17% below the national average.

Coming in fourth, the Cotswolds in the southwest of England have been used as a filming location for major movies such as Harry Potter, James Bond and Pride and Prejudice.

These are the most picturesque locations in the UK, according to the survey:

Location (County)

1. Cornwall (Cornwall) - 15%
2. Lake District (Cumbria) - 14%
3. Yorkshire (Yorkshire) - 9%
4. The Cotswolds (Gloucestershire) - 7%
5. Isle of Skye (Inverness-Shire) - 7%
6. Loch Ness (Highland) - 6%
7. Snowdonia (Gwynedd) - 5%
8. The Peak District (Derbyshire) - 5%
9. Devon (Devon) - 5%
10. Isle of Wight (Hampshire) - 4%

 

Which picturesque places offer the best value for money?

Living in a beautiful doesn’t necessarily have to break the bank. The Isle of Bute in Scotland has been crowned the best value picturesque place to move to in the UK, with properties costing just £115,000, less than half of the average UK national house price.

Bute is the cheapest option for UK island living by far, as houses prices are over £100,000 less than in other more popular locations such as Isle of Skye (£265,000) and Isle of Wight (£315,000).

Boddam in Aberdeenshire (£134,000), and the Isle of Lewis (£147,000) narrowly missed out on the top spot, placing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Scotland really is the place to grab a picturesque home for a bargain! 

While the top 3 cheapest locations are all located in Scotland, Teesside in the North-East is the cheapest picturesque English location.

Famous for its Saltburn Beach Huts and several ‘instagrammable’ nature parks, the area between Durham and North Yorkshire offers houses which cost more than a third less than the national average.

Meanwhile Holyhead, the largest town on the island of Anglesey, was ranked the top picturesque affordable place in Wales, and seventh overall with house prices less than a third of the UK average.

Holyhead is known best for being a busy ferry port and its scenic views overlooking the Wicklow Mountains across the Irish Sea.

These are the top 10 most picturesque and affordable UK locations:

Rank	Location	County	Average House Price in Location	House Price Difference (UK)	Percentage (UK)
1	Isle of Bute	Buteshire	£115,574	-£169,376	-59%
2	Boddam	Aberdeenshire	£134,433	-£150,517	-53%
3	Stornoway, Isle of Lewis	Ross-shire	£146,805	-£138,145	-48%
4	Teesside	Teesside	£177,009	-£107,941	-38%
5	Warsop	Nottinghamshire	£181,556	-£103,394	-36%
6	Ribble Valley	Lancashire	£182,693	-£102,257	-36%
7	Holyhead	Anglesey	£189,170	-£95,780	-34%
8	Durham	Durham	£189,845	-£95,105	-33%
9	Western Isles	Inverness-shire	£190,097	-£94,853	-33%
10	Portmeirion	Gwynedd	£195,234	-£89,716	-31%

 

Which picturesque places require the highest budgets?

Our survey shows that Brits don’t only dream of a house by a lake or a beach. London took the top spot as the most expensive picturesque location, with 3% of survey respondents saying they think of the capital as the most beautiful location in the UK.

As expected, a dream home in the metropolitan city doesn’t come cheap, with average house prices at £780,000, more than 1.5 times the national average.

In general, Brits need to fork out more to live in picturesque towns and cities, with Oxford, Bath, Cambridge and Brighton all mentioned in the Top 10.

Rank	Location	County	Average House Price in Location	House Price Difference (UK)	Percentage (UK)
1	London	Greater London	£780,221	£495,271	174%
2	Dungeness	Kent	£675,000	£390,050	137%
3	Hartfield	East Sussex	£635,000	£350,050	123%
4	Oxford	Oxfordshire	£610,810	£325,860	114%
5	Bath	Somerset	£593,940	£308,990	108%
6	Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	£579,423	£294,473	103%
7	Isles of Scilly	Cornwall	£529,000	£244,050	86%
8	Brighton	East Sussex	£506,357	£221,407	78%
9	St Andrews	Fife	£473,011	£188,061	66%
10	Kent	Kent	£427,469	£142,519	50%

 

How important is the beauty of the surrounding area when buying a house?

Hammonds Furniture asked respondents on how important the beauty of the surrounding areas is for a potential house purchase.

Most Brits agreed that this is an important factor, with just 4% saying this is not at all crucial.

A further one in four (28%) said that it is somewhat of an important consideration, but other factors such as price, commute time and house size take priority.

For the majority of survey respondents though, an unsatisfactory location can be a real dealbreaker.

A significant number of respondents (31%) said it is quite important that the house is near a beautiful location, and one in four (26%) said it is key to consider when deciding whether to go ahead with the purchase.

One in ten (9%) went even further and claimed that this is the most crucial factor when buying a house.

Considering all the factors when buying a new home, this is how important it is that the home is in a beautiful/picturesque area:

• Not at all important – 4%
• Somewhat important - 28%
• Quite important – 31%
• Very important – 26%
• It's the most important factor – 9%
• None of the above - 1%

 

Conclusion

With remote and hybrid working shifting the need to live close to the office, Brits are freer than ever to choose a new place to live, and it’s clear that the UK has many picturesque places to move to.

For those looking to move to a storybook village amidst the hustle and bustle of the capital, the price tag may seem to be out of reach, but our research shows that there are many photogenic locations that can fit smaller budgets, too.

We hope this ranking has unearthed some hidden gems that may have been overlooked so far and that we have provided some with inspiration for your property hunt.

When you are ready to move to a new picturesque home, it can be difficult to find suitable places to store all your belongings.

Some of the picturesque locations may have older houses with limited storage space, so fitted furniture can be a great way to transform your home into a calm, clutter-free space.

Even if you’re not looking to move anytime soon, many of these places make great destinations for a short holiday, too.