A lot has happened over the last few months. The pandemic has meant that we’ve all had to adapt to a new way of living.
One of the biggest shifts was the move to working at home. At the height of lockdown, 49% of British workers ended up doing this, which meant adapting living spaces and discovering a new way of communicating with colleagues.
Right now, the UK has a series of local lockdowns in place, and it could be that this becomes nationwide again in the coming weeks. If you worked from home during the first lockdown and found it tricky, now could be a good time to rethink where you live, using this opportunity to change location if you’re considering making a move.
But where would be a good place to relocate to? instantprint, the business cards specialists, recently carried out a survey to find out which UK cities are the best for working from home. Based on the survey results, here’s a look at the top-performing places and what to consider before your next move.
What to think about
There are those who have enjoyed working from the comfort of their home over the last six months. They’ve worked out a routine and are happy to walk a few feet to their makeshift office.
However, not everyone has enjoyed this change. You might be among those who were happy to return to the workplace when restrictions eased in the summer.
If you’ve been back in the office for a few months now, you might not remember the niggles you experienced at home. And if you think you might want to move to a different city before another lockdown is enforced, it’s worth taking the time to remember what made working from home so difficult.
Some of the things to work out include:
- Internet speed
Did you spend a lot of your time trying to connect to team calls and speaking to your broadband provider when you should have been getting on with work? Constantly missing out on key conversations or not being able to get on with your day because the internet in your area is awful can be a key factor.
- Property size
It might not have been until you had to work out how to turn the hallway into an office space that you realised just how small your flat is. If you’re in a small space, you might want to move to somewhere bigger before another lockdown hits.
- Cost of living
How much are your bills? Did you notice you were spending more on electricity and food while you’re at home? What about rent? You might find that moving to the next city over could help reduce your outgoings, which can be essential right now, especially if you have uncertainty around your job.
Where to move to
The instantprint survey used some of the factors mentioned above to work out where is best to live in the UK right now. Based on the research, here is a look at the top three locations:
- Belfast
Northern Ireland’s capital scored highly across the board, coming out as the best city in the survey. Here, residents enjoy fast broadband speeds, making that morning call over Teams a doddle.
- Birmingham
Like Belfast, Birmingham has super-fast broadband, plus outstanding 4G coverage.
- Nottingham
Low living costs and decent internet speeds are why Nottingham takes the third spot.
Relocating is a big step. However, if you feel like a move to somewhere with better living costs and internet speeds could make you happy, it could be worth considering your options ahead of any further restrictions.