Berkshire & north Hampshire locations named in 'best place to live' list
The Sunday Times has issued its annual list of recommended places
Caversham in Reading, Cookham in Berkshire and Test Valley in north-west Hampshire have been named in a list of the best places to live in the south-east.
Lindfield, West Sussex has been named the overall best place to live in the southeast of England in the annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide.
Ten other locations in the southeast are featured in the comprehensive guide. In total, 72 places across the UK were selected by The Sunday Times to showcase the best of Britain, with Norwich, Norfolk named the overall national winner.
The full list of southeast locations is:
Lindfield, West Sussex
Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Caversham, Reading
Cookham, Berkshire
Deal, Kent
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Petworth, West Sussex
Petersfield, Hampshire
St Leonards, East Sussex
Surrey Hills
Test Valley, Hampshire
Please note: apart from the winners, they are not ranked but published in alphabetical order.
Community
Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, says: “This guide is a great opportunity to highlight the best places in Britain. It is full of places that show that our village, town and city centres can still be full of life, as well as places bursting with natural beauty, culture, connectivity and most importantly a sense of community.
Our expert team of judges visit every location on the list and talk to the locals to find out what they love about the place they live. These judges have traveled the length and breadth of the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coast, selecting the top towns and villages, suburbs and cities for the 2026 guide. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”
The Sunday Times’s expert judges have visited all the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to amenities, as well as access to high-quality green spaces and the health of the high street.
Pen portraits of the southeast locations in Berkshire and north Hampshire from the Sunday Times judges
Caversham, Berks
Quiet riverside town or bustling modern metropolis? In Caversham you get both. Reading 0 with its jobs at multinational HQs, lightning-fast links to London and a rich cultural offering - is within easy walking distance, but Caversham’s streets are lined with elegant Victorian and Edwardian houses, not hulking office blocks, and residents can unwind with a walk in the Chilterns or a boat trip along the Thames.
Cookham, Berks
Anyone moving to this aspirational Thames-side spot needs to be prepared to dig deep and pay the property premium. In return, they get a life surrounded by natural beauty, a choice of aspirational schools and the chance to join one of the many local clubs - arts, sailing, golf and cricket, to name a few.
The Test Valley
The river and the 250 square miles of grasslands, ancient woodlands and wetlands that make up this valley in northwest Hampshire have an appeal that extends far beyond rods and reels. As well as the glorious countryside immortalised in Richard Adams’s classic Watership Down, there are chocolate-box villages with lively communities, cosy pubs, shops and restaurants that sell excellent local produce, and a burgeoning arts scene. The river is at the heart of the appeal, so much so that Test Valley borough council has granted it “personhood”, to deter polluting water companies.