Top five neighbourhoods to live in Liverpool according to Sunday Times' Best Places to Live Guide

The Sunday Times' prestigious Best Places to Live in the UK guide for 2024 has been released and a wonderful leafy suburb of Liverpool has made the list - but it’s not the only area of the city to be singled out for praise in the annual directory.

This year’s comprehensive guide includes 72 places deemed the best from around the UK, and have been selected by a panel of expert judges, based on factors such as schools, transport, green spaces and culture.

Aiming to be 'a celebration of towns, cities and villages that are each a fantastic place to live in 2024', the guidebook has more places than ever before, and includes locations with a strong sense of community rather than 'famous names with high house prices'.

The overall UK winner for 2024 is North Berwick, East Lothian, however, the beautiful South Liverpool suburb of Sefton Park also makes the guide, with the judges noting the area is the ‘best place to enjoy a city that’s definitely going places’.

A number of other locations in Liverpool have featured in the guide over the years, including two in 2023, and two other neighbourhoods in 2021. Below we take a look at the areas of the city picked out by the Sunday Times' Best Places to Live guide in recent years and what the judges had to say about each one.

Sefton Park - 2024

“Anyone seeking the best address on Merseyside will find it close to Sefton Park. In practice that means Aigburth to the south or Mossley Hill to the east. Both are fabulous, family-friendly suburbs with easy connections to the city centre. Choose one of the leafy streets around one of the loveliest urban parks in the country and you can guarantee that you’re in the best place to enjoy a city that’s definitely going places. As well as the park, you’re in pole position to enjoy the food, drink and boho atmosphere of Lark Lane, and the transport connections to both the city centre and the airport are impeccable.”

Toxteth - 2023

"This buzzy, diverse district is now one of Liverpool’s most happening ’hoods. Bordered by the funky Baltic Triangle, the Georgian Quarter and leafy Sefton Park and Princes Park, it has some of the finest Victorian public buildings and private houses in the city. The sins of buy-to-let landlords and HMOs are being reversed and it’s now welcoming staying-on students, city-centre workers seeking a community rather than an impersonal BTL corridor, all happily rubbing shoulders with locals who’ve been here all their lives."

Waterloo - 2023

"Waterloo’s best properties overlook Liverpool Bay; restored detached Victorian seaside houses on Beach Lawn can fetch more than £1 million. South Road and St John’s Road in Waterloo are stuffed to the gunnels with independent shops and cafés, from Florence and Fox, selling candles and gifts, to Barnett’s Wholefoods. Eat out at La Parilla Mexican Bar and Grill or the Workshop, where small plates and cocktails are served to the backdrop of stripped-back brick."

Aigburth - 2021 

“Here you’re spoilt for fresh air between Sefton Park and Otterspool Promenade alongside the mighty River Mersey, with its skatepark and Otterspool Adventure - a meeting-place playground with a café/ice cream parlour. Its character comes to the fore on boho Lark Lane - just the Lane to locals - and take heart: the vegan chippy Woo Tan Scran is still delivering its ‘Salt & Pepper Box’. Cressington Park has some of Liverpool’s most attractive and expensive period properties. Aigburth Drive by Sefton Park is a good bet for those with a less elevated budget."

Georgian Quarter - 2021

“A bit further towards the city centre, the Georgian Quarter offers glorious Farrow & Ball living. If you’re lucky enough to find a painstakingly restored townhouse on the cobbles around Hope Street, Falkner Street or Falkner Square - for half the price you’d pay in Bath - then you’re laughing even harder than Ken Dodd. The Quarter, an Italian deli, is a social hub: grab coffee or brunch and watch the world go by from a pavement table. The area is well placed for primary schools and within the catchment area for the selective Blue Coat School, Liverpool’s leading state secondary, according to our Parent Power guide."