How VillageScore is calculated

How affordable this location is relative to London, and whether prices are trending up.

• 70% weight: property prices here compared with London prices (cheaper relative to London scores higher)
• 30% weight: one-year house price growth (stronger recent growth scores higher)
• Both figures are converted to a percentile rank across all 80 candidates before combining - the score is relative standing, not a raw price

How quickly and how often you can get to London by rail.

• 70% weight: fastest rail journey time to London from the nearest station
• 30% weight: number of trains per day on that route

32 of the 80 candidates have their own sourced station data; the other 48 inherit the figures for their nearest mainline station as a proxy, since a direct entry wasn't available for every location.

Everyday access to green space and local amenities, adjusted so bigger towns don't automatically win just for having more of everything.

• Average of 6 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: footpath access, green space access, and proximity to a supermarket, GP, pharmacy, and community facilities
• Distance-based factors are inverted so being closer scores higher

Recorded crime rate for the surrounding area.

• Based on recorded crime per 1,000 population for the local authority this location sits in (lower crime scores higher)

Calculated at local-authority level, not per-village - every town in the same local authority receives the same D4 score, even if their real-world feel differs street to street.

School quality and proximity, plus family-oriented recreation.

• Average of 5 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: primary school quality, secondary school quality, distance to nearest primary school, distance to nearest secondary school, and family recreation provision
• Distance factors are inverted so being closer scores higher

How the area is likely to develop over the coming years - housing supply, jobs, infrastructure, and flood risk.

• Weighted average of 6 named sub-components, by local authority: Housing Pipeline (25%), Planning Protection (20%), Infrastructure Investment (20%), Employment Growth (15%), Digital Infrastructure (10%), Climate Adaptation (10%)
• Housing Pipeline uses the government's Housing Delivery Test %; Planning Protection uses years of 5-year housing land supply
• Employment Growth uses ONS BRES employee jobs data (% change 2022-2024); Digital Infrastructure uses Ofcom's gigabit-capable broadband coverage %
• Climate Adaptation uses Environment Agency flood-risk scoring; Infrastructure Investment uses UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation per resident

Calculated at local-authority level, like D4. Planning Protection specifically has no sourced figure for 2 of the 13 authorities (Broxbourne, Epping Forest) - their Future Change score is computed from the other 5 sub-components, reweighted to 100%.