By The city of Bath has been named the best city in the UK for people to raise a family, according to the recently released Family Living Index by MoneySuperMarket.
The index measured accessibility to schools, greenspace, house prices and the economic climate in each city with Bath coming out on top.
The importance of access to green space echoes a recent survey that showed prospective homebuyers in the UK prioritise having access to parks or homes with gardens when considering purchasing a new home.
Bristol and London were both ranked as two of the top five least family-friendly cities, owing to high house prices, while London is reported to have the highest average house price of any region in the country, according to house price index.
Living in Bath is ‘family-friendly’
Bath topped the list of family-friendly cities with the average house price recorded at £346,000, according to the recently released index. Prospective homebuyers looking to raise a family will also discover that Bath has as many as 10 parks, reflecting the city’s status as a green city.
London, however, was ranked 34th in the list out of a total of 35 when it came to being family-friendly, according to MoneySuperMarket. Despite having as many as 1,649 nearby parks, the average London house price came in at £479,000.
In terms of unattractive features in potential areas to live, Bath is recorded to have 13 burglary hotspots, compared to as many as 19 in London, which is another essential factor that prospective parents consider when preparing to start a family, according to the house price index.
Access to high-ranking schools
Another factor that was said to place Bath at the top of the index was its high number of schools rated outstanding per capita as measured by Ofsted. MoneySuperMarket estimated Bath to have as many as 29 of these, whereas London is home to only 6.
Tom Flack, editor in chief at MoneySuperMarket, commented: “If you’re thinking about buying a home, it’s worth looking at the bigger picture and taking things such as local amenities, job opportunities and green spaces into consideration. If you have young children, take a look at schools and the catchment area – many will pick the area they live in based on this alone.”
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