The ten worst places to live in England have been named – is yours on the list?

worst place to live

Home is where the heart is, but an annual survey has revealed that some people really aren’t happy with theirs. As a result, the ten worst places to live have been named.

A poll was conducted by iLiveHere.co.uk, who said, ‘An unbelievable 80,172 visitors voted for their worst place to live in England 2020.

‘Previous winners and favourites like Dover, Blackpool (despite being England’s most deprived town) and even Hull, just didn’t make the cut. So has your town made it into the Hall of Shame?’

The top spot for 2020 went to Peterborough, making it this year’s worst place to live. It apparently received a ‘staggering’ number of votes.

Contributors were not happy about this place, with one writing, ‘The atmosphere in Peterborough is draining. You feel totally isolated from the rest of the world and life in general, as though everything else is going on and you’re not part of it as you’re stuck in this dump.’

worst place to live

Credit: Getty Images

Doncaster was second place, with users criticising it for having terrible nightlife and nothing to do. It was also invented by the man who invented the flushing toilet, which the website pointed out.

Huddersfield came in third place, falling down the list over the years, as it was 2018’s winner. Someone described it as, ‘nothing but pound shops and a few coffee shops. It’s polluted, unclean and full of idiots. It’s a horrible place to live.’

Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was fourth place, slipping one place compared to previous years.

worst place to live

Credit: Getty Images

One resident wrote, ‘The place is abysmal and has the effect of making you want to catch a bus ANYWHERE as long as you can get out of the vicinity FAST!’

South Yorkshire town Rotherham was number 5. One disgruntled resident simply wrote, ‘I stopped going into the town centre. There was no point.’

Sixth place went to Nottingham. The East Midlands city made its top 10 debut in 2020, with the website saying it made an appearance ‘out of the blue’.

One resident had moved here from Leeds, and told the poll that ‘nothing could’ve prepared them’ for the city.

West Yorkshire town Keighley took seventh place, with no one holding back when it came to describing it . The introduction jokes, ‘Famed for erm, er, steam trains or something and being the birthplace of the bloke who played Chewbacca in Star Wars.’

Wakefield, another West Yorkshire town, was up next in eighth place. One particularly savage contributor wrote, ‘My favourite thing about Wakefield is Westgate Railway Station – the gateway out of the place.’

worst place to live

Credit: Getty Images

Number 9 went to Stoke-on-Trent, which had apparently appeared on this list before. One angry contributor wrote, ‘A run-down, deprived armpit with delusions of grandeur for starters – a dreary conurbation of 5 (or is it 6?) towns shovelled together and called a city.’

Another criticised the local shops and restaurants, saying, ‘The Potteries Centre, umpteen empty shops, a Wetherspoons and McDonalds. Throw in a few charity shops and that’s your lot.’

Finally, coming in at number 10 is Halifax, West Yorkshire. The tongue-in-cheek website said it was its top ten debut, adding, ‘The only reason you’ve probably heard of it is because of the Building Society that bares its name.’

Halifax residents didn’t hold back either, with one writing, ‘Nothing in the world can prepare you for Halifax. My girlfriend who comes from Bristol is often gobsmacked…’

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Lucy Buglass
Digital Writer

Lucy Buglass is a Digital Writer for What's on TV, Goodto.com, and Woman&Home. After finishing her degree in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University she moved to London to begin her career. She's passionate about entertainment and spends most of her free time watching Netflix series, BBC dramas, or going to the cinema to catch the latest film releases.