The Essex area with chocolate box cottages named among the best to live in as a single parent

An Essex town with chocolate box cottages and its very own market has been named among the best place to live as a single parent. Tucked away in the Essex countryside, Saffron Walden has been named as one of the top places to live in the UK as a single parent - ranking highly for its education and average salary.

Saffron Walden, a mediaeval town boasting chocolate box cottages and its very own market, scored 95 out of a possible 173 in the study, ranking eighth overall in the best places to live as a single parent. The town is known for its market, which has been there since 1141. Market days are currently on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

One of its most prevalent buildings from the picturesque town is St Marys Church, the largest parish church in Essex. With 16,613 people to feed and tourists visiting frequently, the town is hugely popular with residents and tourists alike.

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Most notably, this picturesque market town had the second highest score for education out of all the locations analysed, with all five of the schools and nurseries rated ‘Good’/‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, as well as having the sixth highest average salary at £36,968. It also ranked well for other affordability factors including council tax, coming in tenth spot with £1,481.74.

The ranking was conducted by family law specialists, Richard Nelson LLP which looked at seven key factors including, average house price, salary, council tax rate, proportion of Ofsted rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools and nurseries, cost of electricity, crime rate and amount of public green space.

Data for each factor was collected for the locations listed in the Times’ Best Places to Live guide. All locations were then ranked in order to establish which were best for single parents.

The research comes as the cost of living crisis continues to impact families across the UK, especially lone-parent families which now make up 15% of all families in the UK according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Topping the list as overall best place to live was Bishop’s Castle, south west of Shropshire, which ranked particularly high for its affordability factors. In second place was the market town, Wooler in Northumberland, having the highest score for green space and Rutland, England’s smallest county, followed very closely in third.

The 10 best places to live as a single parent

1) Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire

2) Wooler, Northumberland

3) Rutland

4=) Melbourne, Derbyshire

4=) Leeds, West Yorkshire

6) Ilkley, West Yorkshire

7) Tarporley, Cheshire

8) Saffron Walden, Essex

9) Folkestone, Kent

10=) Felixstowe, Suffolk

10=) Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale, coming in as the least affordable locations for single parents was Wadhurst in East Sussex, Lindfield in West Sussex and Alresford in Hampshire. The average house price combined across these locations is more than £629k, with an average salary of £28k.

Of the locations analysed, Leeds ranked as the most affordable, but had the highest rate of crime per 1,000 people, the least green space and one of the lower proportions of Ofsted rated 'good' or ‘outstanding’ schools & nurseries.

The full rankings revealing the best places to live as a single parent as well as the most and least affordable locations to live can be found here .

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