The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2025: Ilkley, Hebden Bridge, Horsforth, Sheffield and Ripon feature in annual guide among top Yorkshire postcodes

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live Guide has been published and Yorkshire appears prominently in the list.

Ilkley has been named the best place to live for the north and northeast regional category.

The Sunday Times judges said: “Our national winner in 2022 is back and proof that you can’t keep a good town down.

“It’s not just the fresh air, fantastic scenery, excellent schools and direct trains to Leeds that make Ilkley this year’s pick of the north and northeast. It’s the get-up and go of a community that tackles every challenge with gusto.”

The guide, published by The Sunday Times, includes 72 locations across the UK and has been released on Friday, March 21, 2025.

An abridged version will be published as a magazine supplement on Sunday.

The full list of north and northeast locations is as follows (published in alphabetical order): Ilkley (regional winner), Easingwold (North Yorkshire), Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire), Horsforth (Leeds), Morpeth (Northumberland), Ripon (North Yorkshire), Sheffield (South Yorkshire) and Tynemouth (Tyne and Wear).

Editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, Helen Davies, said: “It is easy to feel overwhelmed by everything going on in the world, but there really is so much to celebrate as we look closer to home.

“From small gestures that lift the everyday like - verges blooming with daffodils and volunteer-run dementia cafés, to larger initiatives from repair cafés to new railway stations.”

The Sunday Times’s judges have visited every location on the list and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.

The best news, sent twice a day - sign up for the Yorkshire Post newsletter

The chosen locations come in all forms, from the Scottish Island of Tiree and the remote Welsh village of Maenclochog to vibrant market towns and suburbs of big, lively cities such as Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and London.

There are more new entries than have been previously in this year’s guide and no place for many previous winners including York, Winchester, in Hampshire, and Altrincham, in Cheshire.

As ever, the judges sought out thriving locations with a strong sense of community rather than famous names with high house prices.

“What makes our guide unique is that we actually visit all the places we choose and talk to locals to find out what life is really like there,” Ms Davies said.

“That means we can see what people really love about the places they live. That could be anything from exceptional schools and fast trains to beautiful houses and countryside.

“The health of the high street is important, but more than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong communities who work hard to make the best of where they live, and play hard too.

“We also consider affordability. High house prices are no barrier to inclusion - as long as they provide value for money.

“Different people will be looking for different qualities when they are choosing a place to live. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”

To look at the entire list visit The Times and The Sunday Times website.