UK's 10 worst cities to live in revealed — is yours on the list?

The 10 worst cities to live in the UK have been named in a new list. Major consultancy firm PWC came up with the list by measuring things like economic performance and quality of life. It has also named the 10 best places to live in the UK.

Plymouth was named the best city in Britain to live in, with Bristol, Southampton and Swindon following closely behind. But major cities like London, Manchester and Birmingham all featured among the worst.

The annual index also highlighted major improvements in Reading and Exeter compared to last year, particularly in areas such as income distribution, work-life balance and job opportunities. Both cities featured in the top 10 best places to live. However, the report warned of an "increasing imbalance" between neighbourhoods, driven by differences in access to quality education and housing across different regions of the country.

Rachel Taylor from PwC said: "Raising prosperity across the UK is needed more than ever as we continue to see growing inequality in housing, jobs and education. There is an increasing imbalance within and between neighbourhoods, which is being driven by disparities in access to quality education, jobs and housing. This is felt not only across different regions, but also between people living within the same postcodes in cities."

Cities were assessed on 12 criteria: health, income, jobs, safety, skills, work-life balance, housing, commuting to work times, income equality, high street shops environment and business start-ups.

Those in the east of England were named the most improved, with Lincoln, York and Hull improving on income distribution and jobs. This contrasts with some of the country's largest cities, where large waiting lists for social housing were among the reasons for ranking them among the worst places to live.

London had the longest waiting lists for council houses of any city in the country, with more than 300,000 people awaiting accommodation, followed by Manchester at 100,000, Newcastle at approximately 25,000 and Birmingham with a similar number on its waiting list.

Top 10 most liveable cities in Britain

Plymouth

Bristol

Southampton

Swindon

Reading

Exeter

York

Norwich

Edinburgh

Oxford

The worst 10 cities

Swansea

Sheffield

Sunderland

Manchester

Newcastle

Walsall

Birmingham

London

Bradford

Middlesbrough and Stockton

Carl Sizer, of PwC, said: "The new Government is moving at pace setting out a legislative agenda that starts to pave the way for how we are going to turn the dial on key issues holding back the UK's economic growth, such as reform of the planning regime, improving work readiness of graduates and school leavers and investment in key national infrastructure and skills.

"However, this is against a backdrop of a challenging fiscal environment, so successful delivery will hinge on a level of close collaboration and innovation between national, local and regional governments, businesses, academia and the third sector that has historically rarely been seen."