Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire has been named the best place to live in Wales in the Sunday Times‘ yearly list of winners – but anyone seeking a prime spot there is warned to have £350,000 to spend.
The Sunday Times’s judges said that they assessed a wide range of factors, from schools, transport and broadband to culture, green spaces and the health of the high street.
“The only way is Twyi. In different surroundings this sparkler of a town could all be a little bit twee with its brightly painted Georgian houses and a high street offering boutique fashion outlets, arts and crafts galleries, and posh chocolate shops,” they said.
“However, out here in rural west Wales, set in some spectacular countryside, it feels like small-town living at its unpretentious best.”
Despite noting that “the Welsh language is one of the ties that brings people together here” the article cited house prices likely to be out of reach to many of those from the area, noting that they had grown 18% since the start of the pandemic.
“The town centre for colourful, characterful terraces. Try New Road or Bank Terrace and allow £350,000 or so, but avoid Bridge Street if you don’t like traffic noise,” they advised. The average house price was listed as £251,000.
St Dogmaels in Pembrokeshire, Ruthin in Denbighshire, Usk in Monmouthshire, Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, and Conwy were also on the shortlist.
‘Spirit’
The guide also includes a list of other regional and national winners. Ilkley in west Yorkshire has topped a list of 70 locations to be named the UK’s best place to live by the Sunday Times.
The town was praised for its top schools, interesting shops, spectacular scenery and convenient rail links.
The Isle of Bute was identified as the best place to live in Scotland.
The Sunday Times’s judges assessed a wide range of factors, from schools, transport and broadband to culture, green spaces and the health of the high street.
Helen Davies, the Times and Sunday Times property editor, said: “The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list is necessarily subjective.
“Leave it just to statistics and you will never capture the spirit of a place. For that, you need to visit to take into account that ‘you have to be here’ feeling.
“Is the pub dog-friendly, for example? Can you live car-free? What are the schools and houses like? Is it multicultural and multigenerational, and can it offer a good way of life to lots of different sorts of people?”
She added: “We hope there is something to suit everyone.”
The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2022 regional winners are:
– East of England, Norwich, Norfolk
– London, Crystal Palace
– Midlands of England, Uppingham, Rutland
– Northern Ireland, Ballycastle, County Antrim
– North and North East of England, Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire
– North West of England, Trawden, Lancashire
– Scotland, Isle of Bute, Argyll
– South East of England, Sevenoaks, Kent
– South West of England, The Chalke Valley, Wiltshire
– Wales, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire
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