With house prices varying hugely throughout the UK, the team at Glint Pay have researched where's best to buy.
So how did they do it? By weighing price per square foot against average salary, crime rate and life satisfaction, Glint assigned each area in the UK a House Buying Score out of 100, to produce full rankings for the best places to buy in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.
Good news is that Yorkshire came out on top and has been revealed as the second-best region to buy a house in the UK. With a house buying score of 59/100, just behind the North East at 61/100, but above the North West and Midlands.
Image: Glint Pay
Rainy as it may be, with seven northern regions appearing in the top 10, Yorkshire is obviously the clear victor in the house buying study. And we may be biased, but we agree it is most definitely the best place to live as well.
It was found that Yorkshire houses offer some of the best value for money, ranging between £202-255 per square ft., well below the national average of £366. The only downside being that houses in Yorkshire tend to be on the smaller side with South Yorkshire even having the smallest houses in the UK (973 sq. ft. on average).
Image: Glint Pay
It's no surprise that the South of England dominate the bottom of the table but if you are keen to cross the divide, Staffordshire (67/100), Derbyshire (60/100) and Herefordshire (60/100) snuck into the top 10, though houses here are decidedly pricier than their northern counterparts.
Surprisingly Kent (22/100) overtook Greater London (24/100) in being the worst place to buy in England, the reason being that average salaries in Kent are £9,000 lower than London, meaning reduced buying power. Add to that a comparable crime rate to the capital, and Kent’s fate is sealed.
Image: Glint Pay
Taking a closer look, 6 of the 10 least expensive areas per square ft. are in South West Scotland, while 7 of the 10 most expensive areas are in South East England.
So there you have it, if you weren't convinced that Yorkshire wasn't the best place on earth already then here's some more evidence to convince you.
To read the full article and more of the findings, take a loot at Glint's website.
The Wombats aren’t just still going strong - they’re getting better. And honestly? Long may they reign.
The Wombats absolutely tore the roof off the First Direct Arena in Leeds last night, Wednesday 26 March and what a night it was.
From the second they hit the stage it wasn’t just a gig, it was a full-blown indie-pop spectacle, packed with infectious energy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of dancing.
They kicked things off with “Moving to New York,” and honestly? The crowd was in from the first note.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Matthew Murphy’s unmistakable vocals rang through the arena and suddenly, thousands of people were screaming every lyric like it was 2007 all over again. It was one of those moments where you could just feel how much this band still means to people.
Despite the massive venue, The Wombats somehow made it feel intimate. The lights? Pure chaos in the best way - vibrant, colourful, and totally in sync with the band’s wild, bouncy sound.
Murphy’s cheeky banter between songs made it feel less like a polished arena show and more like a jam session with a few thousand of your closest mates.
Setlist-wise, they nailed it. “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “Greek Tragedy” had the whole place losing it, while the stripped-down version of “Techno Fan” gave everyone a minute to breathe (and maybe get a little emotional).
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those quieter moments just made the high-energy choruses hit even harder. It was a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.
Then came the encore. If you thought the crowd was loud before, “Kill the Director” took things to another level. Pure, chaotic indie bliss. The kind of moment you don’t want to end.
Here’s the thing about The Wombats: some might say their older songs hit harder than their newer stuff, but is that just nostalgia talking? Or maybe it’s a generational thing?
Either way, they proved they’re still one of the most exciting live bands out there. They’ve still got the hooks, the humour, and the ability to turn a massive arena into a sweaty, euphoric singalong.
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
Danny Jones
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Clementine Hall -
19th May 2022 
