Top 10 Cheap Places To Live In The UK 2023
Is the area where you’re currently living unaffordable in terms of rent or house prices?
House prices in the UK have been rising for quite some time. But coupled with the cost of living crisis, it’s getting ever more difficult to afford a place to live.
One option you could consider is to move to an area of the UK with the cheapest house prices.
Even if you’re not looking to buy, moving to an area with cheaper house prices will usually result in cheaper rents, along with lower costs of living as a whole.
Plus, if you do decide you want to buy in the future, it’s going to be a lot easier to do so in a cheaper area.
Using the latest information from Property Data, here are the 10 cheapest places for house prices in the UK for 2023.
UK Average House Prices
To demonstrate how cheap the following 10 locations are, let's first take a look at the UK housing market as a whole.
Average cost to buy in Dec 2022: £265,195 (Statista)
Average cost to rent: £1,190 (Rightmove)
Wages aren’t rising with inflation, and there’s also a housing shortage. Both of these factors are pushing up the cost of buying and renting before we even get onto the cost of everyday living.
By moving to a cheaper area of the UK you can’t escape these factors altogether. However, cheaper areas can make it much easier to afford the essentials, since practically all of your living costs will be lower as a result.
#10 - Bootle, L20, £91,793
We begin our list of cheap places to live in the UK in L20, which is in the Bootle area of Liverpool.
Nestled along the River Mersey, Bootle has excellent transport links from its local MerseyRail station Bootle Oriel Road. Here, you can easily connect to the likes of Liverpool City Centre, Wigan, Chester and Manchester.
Therefore, L20 could be a good option for anyone looking to work in the North West, but can’t afford to live closer to one of the big nearby cities.
When we looked on Rightmove, we found homes for sale in Bootle starting at just £10,000 at auction. These sort of figures would definitely be unheard of further south, and we’re only at number #10 on our list of the cheapest places in the UK!
Bootle has several parks, with lots of conveniences found on the high street too. As the Liverpool area is also popular with students, it could be a great place to purchase a starter home for new graduates.
#9 - Burnley, BB11, £91,516
Positioned between Preston and Leeds is the BB11 area of Burnley in Lancashire.
Burnley has certainly had its struggles in recent times. However, the town is also considered one of the best locations in the UK to invest into the property market. With many investors purchasing and renovating property in the town, Burnley is slowly being transformed.
It’s a particular hot spot for commuters, especially due to the close proximity to Manchester which is towards the south of the town.
The area surrounding Burnley also offers some wonderful views of the countryside, with plenty of walks in the fresh air to enjoy.
#8 - Stanley, DH9, £91,391
We’ve moved up to County Durham where Stanley in DH9 is the eighth cheapest place to live in the UK.
As with many areas in the North East, Stanley’s industry fell away some years ago, as it was a former colliery town. While major employers may not be found directly in the town anymore, the nearby locations of Newcastle and Durham offer plenty of work and educational opportunities.
In addition, with the rise in remote and hybrid working, towns such as Stanley make it possible to find cheaper places to live, without the pressure to find a job closer to home.
#7 - Peterlee, SR8 £85,274
We remain in County Durham but move along the coast towards Peterlee, which is in the SR8 district.
Peterlee is one mile from the nearest train station, with frequent services between Middlesbrough and Newcastle. So once again, it offers up an ideal spot for commuters who can’t afford to live closer to the city.
There are several properties for sale in Peterlee starting at just £5,000, offering plenty of potential for investors even on the smallest of budgets.
Likewise for families, students or first time buyers, Peterlee offers a low cost of living that simply can’t be found further south.
The nearby Horden Beach offers some stunning scenery on your doorstep too.
#6 - Middlesbrough, TS3, £80,958
Home to Teesside University which serves 21,000 students is the North Yorkshire town of Middlesbrough.
In Middlesbrough, it’s possible to find detached homes for around £135,000, which is significantly below the national average. Therefore, for families who have struggled to find a property they can afford that’s also big enough, TS3 and the surrounding areas could offer some good opportunities.
Middlesbrough has plenty of free things to do as a family too. Some nearby attractions include Roseberry Topping, Albert Park and Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park.
#5 - Shildon, DL4, £73,637
We’re half way through our list of the cheapest areas to live in the UK, and we head back to County Durham for the next entry to the railway town of Shildon.
In 2020, Shildon was named ‘the most affordable place to live in the UK’, and even a few years on, the town remains within the top 5 cheapest places to live.
One of the main reasons why the cost of living in Shildon is so cheap, is due to most properties being terraced homes rather than semi detached or detached homes. This brings property prices, and therefore, the cost of everyday living down across the board in Shildon.
Shildon is cited as a great place to live for those in search of a quiet life. That said, it’s also not too far from locations including Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough and Durham.
#4 - Grimsby, DN31, £71,105
Grimsby is a large town in North East Lincolnshire which sits along the Humber Estuary.
Once known for its thriving fishing industry, Grimsby’s economy is now based on food processing along with renewable energy. Though, the town’s decline from its fishing heyday is one of the reasons why property prices haven’t risen as high as other parts of the UK.
The DN31 area of Grimsby covers a large stretch of the town, including the town centre itself. There are a lot of amenities concentrated within the area, making it easy to live in the town without a car.
Cleethorpes is a popular seaside resort close to DN31. Likewise, Grimsby is surrounded by the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB. Therefore, it’s easy to access open green spaces and natural beauty spots despite Grimsby itself being quite urbanised.
#3 - Sunderland, SR1, £65,478
As we move into the top three cheapest places to live, we head to the SR1 district of Sunderland.
Sunderland has long been one of the cheapest places to live in the UK. Some of the reasons for this is due to the area lacking employment opportunities. While Sunderland was once the shipbuilding capital of the world, its industry started to decline in the 1970s.
However, as noted above, if you are able to commute or if your job involves working remotely, places such as Sunderland offer a cheap place to live. There are still industries which thrive locally, with manufacturing making up 15.6% of all jobs in the area.
In the next four years, £400 million worth of investment is coming to Sunderland. With its small, community-like feel, now could be a good time to move to Sunderland to be able to benefit from the city’s regeneration.
#2 - Bradford, BD1, £58,673
The BD1 area of Bradford can be found in West Yorkshire, and covers the area around the city centre.
In 2021, Bradford was voted the cheapest place in the UK for a single person to relocate to. The city boasts average monthly savings of £600 on living expenses compared with the rest of the country.
Utility bills are also lower than the UK average in Bradford according to MoveIQ.
Numbeo adds that rent in Bradford is 71.4% cheaper than in London.
As for why property in Bradford is cheap, many of the issues echoed in the rest of our list ring true. Namely, industries which have fallen away which for Bradford includes the textile industry. Plus, some areas of Bradford have higher levels of deprivation and unemployment.
But for those able to find work in nearby Leeds or Huddersfield, Bradford can offer far lower costs of living, along with larger homes available for less money.
Bradford is one of two locations on our list with a direct train service to London, which again offers opportunity for those who want to live in a cheap place while they build their careers.
#1 - Middlesbrough, TS1, £54,978
The cheapest place to live in the UK is the TS1 area of Middlesbrough.
We noted above how Middlesbrough is known for Teesside University. The university campus and much of the student housing can be found in TS1 specifically. Although non-student housing can also be found in TS1, the lack of permanent residents is one of the reasons why property is so cheap in the area.
Middlesbrough does struggle with high levels of crime, which is again a major factor as to why property in the TS1 area is far lower than the national average.
However, something the area does have going for it is the large number of amenities, particularly around the Albert Road and Linthorpe Road areas. So whether you’re a student, single professional or a family - you don’t have to go far to find all of the essentials.
For anyone who wants to return to university and find work within the area, Middlesbrough could offer an opportunity to do so, since it’s consistently ranked as one of the cheapest areas in the country to live.