Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire — Best Places to Live in the UK 2020

The Halifax gave top honours in its annual quality-of-life survey this year to East Hertfordshire, the district centred on Bishop’s Stortford. That list was compiled in the number-crunching way you’d expect from a building society — average earnings, exam results, life expectancy and so on — but whatever criteria you use, it’s hard to deny this is a great area to call home. Much Hadham made our Best Places to Live guide two years ago, but this time we’re giving the nod to its bigger neighbour, prompted in part by work getting under way on revamping the unlovely area between the station and the River Stort. The £200m Goods Yard development will eventually create more than 500 homes, a hotel, a care home, shops, extra