Paradise found

Lymington has been named as the most desirable place to live by the seaside by TV programme Property List (Channel 5).

The research was carried out by Savills estate agency to find the best place to live on the British coast. It measured standards of living, school league tables, crime levels, hours of sunshine, house prices and the quality of the waterfront for sailors and residents.

Analysis of the town explains why it is so popular. "Lymington ticks a lot of boxes besides the obvious seaside ones," says Lucian Cook, head of research at Savills estate agency, who compiled the data for the series. "It's close to employment markets in Bournemouth and Southampton, there's a good mix of property types from Victorian and Georgian houses to new apartments, and most of its primary and secondary schools get above average results," he says.

"It's still a very charming coastal town with a Georgian core pretty much unchanged," says Dr Donald Mackenzie of the Lymington Society, a preservation group. "People love the place, and it frequently wins awards for its attractiveness and location."

Savills' research shows that a typical home in Lymington costs an average of £352,128. In the five years to the end of last year, prices grew 52 per cent; over a 10-year period they rose a whopping 218 per cent.