Property

Two Greater Manchester towns named in top 20 ‘most desirable’ in Britain

It's according to a new national ranking by real estate company Savills.

Emily Sergeant - 23rd June 2023

Two Greater Manchester towns have been named among the “most desirable” places to live in Britain, according to a new ranking.

There’s no doubt the property market in our region has been booming over the last decade or so, with average house prices seeming to rise year-on-year, and more and more areas becoming viewed as the places to live.

You may remember that earlier on this year, two unexpected Greater Manchester areas were named ‘property hotspots’ for 2023 by Rightmove based on last year’s data, while only a couple of months back, neighbourhoods such as Bramhall, Broadheath, and Bowdon were identified as being the places where houses prices were shooting up the most.

Trafford has always been one of the most affluent and sought-after areas to live in Greater Manchester, but now it seems that it’s not just within the region that the borough is proving popular, as it also appears to be a heavy-hitter nationwide too.

Well, that’s if a new list of the best places to live in Britain by Savills is anything to go by.

Using the latest data from the most recent census, the real estate company has compiled a list – as reported by the Telegraph – of what it considers to be the top 50 “most desirable” towns in Britain, based of several key factors including state of health, cost of homes, employment figures and job opportunities, and the qualifications that residents hold.

And two Trafford towns have made the cut to earn themselves a coveted spot in the top 20 – Hale and Altrincham.

As the only two North West representatives in the whole of the top 20, the leafy Altrincham village suburb of Hale – which is a favourite among A-listers, professional footballers, and high-earning families – has taken sixth spot on the list, while the town of Altrincham itself has bagged a respectable 19th place.

The rest of the top 20 list is, unsurprisingly, dominated by areas in the Home Counties.

Top 20 ‘most desirable’ towns in Britain

1. Harpenden, Hertfordshire
2. Cobham, Surrey
3. Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
4. Chorleywood, Bukcinghamshire
5. Amersham, Buckinghamshire
6. Hale, Greater Manchester
7. Esher, Surrey
8. Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire
9. Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
10. St Albans, Hertfordshire
11. Virginia Water, Surrey
12. Sevenoaks, Kent
13. West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire
14. Ashtead, Surrey
15. Farnham, Surrey
16. Cambridge
17. Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
18. North Ascot, Berkshire
19. Altrincham, Greater Manchester
20. Weybridge, Surrey

Harpenden in Hertfordshire took the top spot, followed by Cobham in Surrey, and then Beaconsfield, Chorleywood, and Amersham, all in Buckinghamshire, rounding out the top five.

The rest of the top 20 is made up of a series of other Surrey suburbs, as well as neighbourhoods in Oxfordshire, Kent, and Berkshire featuring – with the only other area even slightly close to the north being West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire.

Lucian Cook, who is head of residential research for Savills, told The Telegraph that each of the areas named within the top 20 – including Hale and Altrincham – are not there because they are tourist or second-home hotspots.

Read more:

• House prices are rising the most in these Greater Manchester areas
• Two Greater Manchester areas named UK ‘property hotspots’ as house prices soar
• House prices in the North West have more than trebled over the past 20 years

“They are aspirational, ­affluent places that attract incoming wealth with good schools and a strong quality of housing stock where residents are economically active who are building up their property and personal wealth,” he explained.

Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons