Why Harrogate is rated the best place when working from home

HARROGATE IS the best place to work from home in the UK, according to research by Uswitch. com, the comparison and switching service.

The North Yorkshire spa town topped the charts thanks to its superfast 60Mbps broadband, vast swathes of green space, low crime rates and good schools.

The only other Yorkshire town or city to make the top ten was York, which was awarded eighth place.

Bath and the Mendip area of Somerset, which includes

England’s smallest city, Wells, came second and third in the Uswitch Remote Working Index, which ranks the desirability of the UK’s 100 biggest towns and cities based on broadband speed, green spaces, air quality, crime rates, quality of schools, and GPs per 100,000 people.

The top three were followed by Derry City and Strabane, Wigan, Cheshire, St Albans, York, Edinburgh and Swansea.

Adelana Carty, broadband expert at Uswitch. com, said:

“The pandemic has turned our working routines upside down and given many of us a taste of what our lives could be like if we worked from home on a more permanent basis. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in millions of people dreaming of ditching the rat race and moving away from the big city.

“Our Remote Working Index reveals some of the country’s best places to work remotely and Harrogate comes top thanks to its superfast broadband, huge amount of green spaces, good schools and great doctor numbers.”

The UK’s biggest cities ranked poorly on the index, with Birmingham 82nd, London in 88th place, and Manchester ranked 100th.

More than half of people

( 53 per cent) said house prices were the most important issue, followed by green spaces ( 45 per cent), crime rates ( 43 per cent), broadband speeds ( 34 per cent), air quality ( 28 per cent), local GP numbers ( 20 per cent) and the quality of local schools ( 16 per cent). A fifth of people want to spend more time working from home once the pandemic is over.

Millions are dreaming of moving away from the big city. Adelana Carty, broadband expert at Uswitch. com.

PICTURE: GERARD BINKS DON’T STRAY TOO FAR: Harrogate has finished top in a Uswitch. com survey of best places to work from home. York is eighth.