"The UK offers so many gorgeous places to move to, and we hope our research has revealed some hidden gem locations that may be overlooked during property hunts"
- Melissa Denham - Hammonds Furniture
Hammonds Furniture ranked more than 50 picturesque UK locations, comparing local house prices to the UK average to find out where house hunters can bag a bargain
Boddam and Stornoway both narrowly missed out on the top spot
Despite a sixth of Brits hailing Cornwall as the most picturesque place in the UK overall, house prices here have reached a whopping £529,000.
With the housing market skyrocketing, affording an “aesthetically pleasing” house with scenic views is becoming harder to reach for most Brits. However, a new study by Hammonds Furniture reveals that this can become a reality.
The furniture experts surveyed 2,000 UK adults to scope out the most beautiful locations. From a list of over 60 towns and villages, they compared the house prices in that area to the national average to find out which picturesque location can get you a bang for your buck.
In first place, is the quaint Isle of Bute, on the west coast of southern Scotland. It is revealed to be the most affordable “instagrammable” location to move to in the UK, with properties costing just £115,000.
This is over £100,000 less than in other more popular locations such as the Isle of Skye (£265,000) and Isle of Wight (£315,000).
Boddam in Aberdeenshire (£134,000), and the Isle of Lewis (£147,000) narrowly missed out on the top spot, placing 2nd and 3rd respectively. Scotland really is the place to grab a picturesque home for a bargain!
While the top 3 are all located in Scotland, Teesside in the North-East is the cheapest picturesque English location.
Famous for its Saltburn Beach Huts and several ‘instagrammable’ nature parks, the area between Durham and North Yorkshire offers houses which cost more than a third less than the national average.
Meanwhile, Holyhead, the largest town on the island of Anglesey, was ranked the top picturesque affordable place in Wales, and seventh overall with house prices less than a third of the UK average.
Holyhead is known best for being a busy ferry port and its scenic views overlooking the Wicklow Mountains across the Irish Sea.
These are the top 10 most picturesque and affordable UK locations:
| Rank | Location | County | Average House Price | House Price Difference (UK) | Percentage UK |
| 1 | Isle of Bute | Buteshire | £115,574 | -£169,376 | -59% |
| 2 | Boddam | Aberdeenshire | £134,433 | -£150,517 | -53% |
| 3 | Stornoway, Isle of Lewis | Ross-Shire | £146,805 | -£138,145 | -48% |
| 4 | Teesside | Teesside | £177,009 | -£107,941 | -38% |
| 5 | Warsop | Nottinghamshire | £181,556 | -£103,394 | -36% |
| 6 | Ribble Valley | Lancashire | £182,693 | -£102,257 | -36% |
| 7 | Holyhead | Anglesey | £189,170 | -£95,780 | -34% |
| 8 | Durham | Durham | £189,845 | -£95,105 | -33% |
| 9 | Western Isles | Inverness-Shire | £190,097 | -£94,853 | -33% |
| 10 | Portmeirion | Gwynedd | £195,234 | -£89,716 | -31% |
Hammonds Furniture asked respondents how important the beauty of the surrounding areas is for a potential house purchase.
Most Brits agreed that this is an important factor, with just 4% saying this is not at all crucial.
A further one in four (28%) said that it is somewhat of an important consideration, but other factors such as price, commute time and house size take priority.
For the majority of survey respondents though, an unsatisfactory location can be a real dealbreaker.
A significant number of respondents (31%) said it is quite important that the house is near a beautiful location, and one in four (26%) said it is key to consider when deciding whether to go ahead with the purchase.
One in ten (9%) went even further and claimed that this is the most crucial factor when buying a house.
Melissa Denham, Interior Design Expert from Hammonds Fitted Furniture said: “The UK offers so many gorgeous places to move to, and we hope our research has revealed some hidden gem locations that may be overlooked during property hunts.
"This ranking should hopefully provide people with some inspiration for beautiful, yet affordable places to move to.
"Even if you aren’t on the hunt, you’re hopefully provided with a new bucket list of the best scenic places that the UK has to offer!”
