DARLINGTON has made a top ten list of the best places to live in the UK for 'hybrid' home and office working.
Comparison and switching service Uswitch.com has compiled the rankings using factors such as average broadband speeds and proximity to cities to find out the best places to live for working from both home and the office.
Read more: Family-friendly festival with a glamorous camping twist returns to the region
Since the Covid pandemic, the number of employees now dividing their working week between home and the workplace have doubled.
Prior to the pandemic, only one in ten people (11 per cent) divided their week between home and work, but this has now doubled and workers expect this to rise further over the next six months.
Meanwhile the proportion of people solely working from their workplace has fallen from three quarters to just over half (56 per cent) of workers.
And York has topped the Uswitch ranking of the best places to live for this 'new normal' hybrid way of working.
Uswitch says York boasts average broadband speeds of 159Mbps, large areas of green space, low crime rates, and close proximity to work hub Leeds.
Harrogate is ranked fifth in the table and Darlington comes in at seventh thanks to its average broadband speeds of 106Mbps and its commutable distance of 31-miles from Newcastle.
Edinburgh and Belfast come second and third in the index, which also takes into account quality of life factors such as crime rates, school rankings, air quality and GPs per 100,000 people.
The UK’s biggest cities rank further down in the index, with London 23rd, Birmingham 30th, and Manchester coming 82nd.
Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, said: “The last few years have turned our working lives on their head, and many of us have enjoyed the benefits of leaving the commute behind and spending more time at home.
“It’s been an opportunity for many to escape the rat race, move away from the big cities and enjoy life in a more rural setting.
“Our Hybrid Working Index reveals some of the country’s best places to live if you’re alternating between working from home and the office.
"York comes top thanks to its combination of superfast broadband, huge amount of green spaces, and close proximity to work hub Leeds.
“While some cities like Bristol did score highly enough to make the top ten, London had a patchy performance - despite being home to big businesses and the country's most expensive properties it was let down by a lack of green space and surprisingly modest average broadband speeds.
Read more: Fly-tipper fined thanks to quick-thinking resident who snapped him in the act
“If you’re moving to a new area to work remotely, the speed - and reliability - of your broadband connection will be one of the most important things about your new location.
“Do your research and pop your prospective postcode into an online comparison to see what speeds you could get before committing to a move.
"Once you’ve got the move confirmed, don’t forget to let your existing (and potentially new) broadband provider know, so you’re not caught short when the big day to switch comes.”
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here