Folkestone named best place to live in the South East
Folkestone in Kent has been named the best place to live in Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide
Folkestone, Kent, has been named the best place to live in the southeast of England.
Judges said the coastal town's "culture-led regeneration", "cool shops" and "impressive schools" helped it claim the top spot of the annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide.
Nine other locations in the southeast are featured in the comprehensive guide.
Sevenoaks in Kent was also featured in the list. It was praised for its "strong community" and "lovely countryside".
Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, says:
“This guide is a celebration of towns, cities and villages that are each a fantastic place to live in 2024.
“These are all places where you can feel grounded as well as upwardly mobile: they have a mature sense of community, lively, supportive high streets and an eye to the future, whether that is eco-friendly measures, transport and regeneration, or imaginative inclusion of new housing.”
The Sunday Times’s expert judges have visited all the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.
Helen added "different people may be looking for different things, but what all our best places have in common is that people love living in them and are proud to call them home.”
The Sunday Times judges said:
“Folkestone may have been transformed by its eye-catching culture-led regeneration, but it isn’t only the artists’ studios, the cool shops on the old high street or the chance to sip cocktails on the restored Harbour Arm that make this resort our best place to live in the southeast. It also has impressive schools, state-of-the-art sports facilities and high-speed trains to London.”