Harrogate in Yorkshire is the UK’s best place to work from home, according to Uswitch.

The utility comparison site said the Yorkshire spa town’s superfast 60Mbps broadband, huge amounts of green space, low crime rates and good schools, make it the UK’s ideal remote working location.

Bath came second in the Uswitch Remote Working Index, which ranks the desirability of the UK’s 100 biggest towns and cities based on broadband speed, green spaces, air quality, crime rates, quality of schools, and GPs per 100,000 people.

In third place was the Mendip area of Somerset, which includes England’s smallest city, Wells.

Completing the top 10 are Derry City and Strabane, Wigan, Cheshire, St Albans, York, Edinburgh and Swansea.

Poor performers

The UK’s biggest cities rank poorly on the Index, with Birmingham 82nd, London in 88th place, and Manchester ranked 100th.

A fifth of people (19%) want to spend more time working from home once the pandemic is over, and one in six employees (16%) want to work from home full time when life returns to normal.

The proportion of people hoping to spend three or more days working from home each week is expected to double from less than one in five (17%) to more than a third (35%).

Moving home

Almost a fifth of people (17%) say they have already moved or want to relocate due to the benefits of working from home. People generally want to move from cities and larger towns to smaller towns and villages.

One in four (23%) currently live in a city of more than 500,000 residents, but only one in nine (13%) wish to do so in the future. Conversely, the proportion who live in a village is only 15%, but rises to three in ten (30%) who would like to do so.

Adelana Carty, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, said: “With the likes of Derry and Wigan so high up the list, it shows how different our priorities are once we are liberated from having to worry about the length of our commute.

“After house prices, the amount of green space in the area is the biggest priority for people hoping to work from home, and places like Swansea look hugely appealing when you think of the gorgeous Gower peninsula on its doorstep.

“If you’re moving to a new area to work remotely, the speed and reliability of your broadband connection could be one of the most important things about your new location.

“Do your research and run a comparison online to see what speeds you could get before you commit to the move.”