what is the cheapest town or village to live in the UK (all round costs)
Uk is defined as England, Scotland, Wales

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Request for Question Clarification by tehuti-ga on 08 Dec 2002 17:16 PST

Hello balbs,

I've noticed that a number of researchers, including myself, have
tried finding the answer to this question.  Unless we have all missed
some resource, it appears that such all-encompassing information is
not available, at least not on the Internet.  I have found the region
which is claimed to have the lowest living costs, but no evidence is
given for the statement. It has the lowest house prices, the lowest
per capita expenditure, but also the lowest wages and a high level of
unemployment. Nevertheless, at least one place in the region is
thought of as a good place to live.  I have also found the place which
supposedly is the cheapest for student living.  It is not in the same
region!  However, I don't know if this information would be any use to
you, and whether it would form an acceptable answer.

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Clarification of Question by balbs-ga on 09 Dec 2002 16:06 PST

That information would do just fine..... also the student question - naturally
there are a wide number of variables to the answer, so any clues are welcome.

Hello balbs,

Here is what I have been able to find about cheapest places in the UK.
 You will note a certain lack of consensus.

The nearest I got to an overall estimate of cost of living was on the
UK Official Graduate Careers site at
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/The_graduate_job_market/In_depth_articles_and_surveys/Regional_earnings_vs_cost_of_living__Aut_02_/p!egilmd
“Using regional average salary data from the latest Prospects Today
salary and vacancy survey from CSU and rationalising it by cost of
living gives us an estimate of 'real' earnings for graduates by
region, which gives some interesting results.”
This gave the North (ie North East, Cumbria and Durham), followed by
Yorkshire and Humberside as the regions with the highest “real
earnings”. However, the cost of living was based purely on house
prices, according to the following logic: “It is based solely on
housing costs because this accounts for 16% of household spending,
according to The Family Expenditure Survey. The cost of houses also
gives a very good indication of localised inflation, which might not
be represented in other items of spending which are protected by
nationwide pricing policies such as supermarket goods, or chain-store
clothes.”

According to TheMoveChannel.com, a national survey of estate agents
available at http://www.themovechannel.com/sitefeatures/uk-house-prices/november-hometrack-national.asp
showed that the lowest average regional house price was in the East
Riding of Yorkshire (see Table 5), while the city with the lowest
average price was Liverpool (table 6).  However, the tables are also
broken down into different types of home, and the results do vary
according to the type required (although the region and city with the 
lowest prices for terrace houses are the same as those with the lowest
averages).

However, Land Registry figures for July-September 2002, available at
http://www.landreg.gov.uk/publications/ppr/pprq302.pdf and grouped by
county/unitary authority found the lowest prices to be in Blaenau
Gwent, closely followed by Merthyr Tydfil (both in my view very bleak
places!), and Wales scored lowest on a regional basis.

According to a poll carried out by The Guardian newspaper in August
2002, the cheapest city for student living is Bradford
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_jobs_and_money/story/0,3605,775601,00.html
The vital parameters that gave Bradford its top position included not
only the cost of rented accommodation, but also “Boozing, clubbing and
curry eating in the town is a dream come true. Bradford is teeming
with rock-bottom priced curry houses with meals from £4, and many
restaurants allow customers to bring their own beer.”  Cinema and taxi
prices were also mentioned as being bargains.

Official statistics for the UK are available at:
http://www.statsbase.gov.uk/   From there, I reached a survey of
regional economic indicators at
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/REI_August_2002.pdf
  This was published in August 2002, but some figures only go up to
1999.
Table 3: Disposable income per head in 1999 was lowest in the North
East, followed by Wales
Table 4: Individual expenditure per head in 1999 was lowest in the
North East, followed by Wales
Table 6: Unemployment in 2002 first quarter was highest in the North
East, London and Scotland
Table 20: Average house prices in 2002 first quarter had the lowest
values as indices of 1993 values in Merseyside followed by North East.

A survey by Country Life magazine, published on October 31, 2002,
found that the North East town of Alnwick offered the highest standard
of living: http://www.alnwick.gov.uk/alnwick/news.nsf/public/Current/A5E85279ED32091780256C63003824EE?opendocument
“Alnwick came out the best against a list of measurable criteria such
as house prices, crime rate and local amenities. Local character,
quality of local produce, sporting and outdoor opportunities, weather
and historical and cultural buildings were also considered… Alnwick
pipped Midhurst in West Sussex to second place and in joint third
place was Cornish fishing village Fowey, and Tetbury, Gloucestershire,
- close to Prince Charles' Highgrove home.”

Search strategy: 1. “cheapest place to live” or “lowest cost of
living” combined with UK, “United Kingdom” or Britain
2. official UK statistics

Initially dubious (first timer) about the quality I could expect I am
pleased by care taken in answer and the sources quoted.