Plymouth has topped the list of Britain’s best cities with London, Manchester and Birmingham named among the worst.

Bristol came second followed by Southampton and Swindon, in an index measuring economic performance and quality of life by consultancy firm PwC.

Reading and Exeter also saw large improvements on last year in areas such as income distribution, work-life balance and jobs, the annual index found.

The research points to an “increasing imbalance” between neighbourhoods that is fuelled by disparities in access to quality education and housing in some areas of the country, the report warned.

Rachel Taylor, of 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.”

Britain’s most and least liveable cities

Top 10:

1. Plymouth
2. Bristol
3. Southampton
4. Swindon
5. Reading
6. Exeter
7. York
8. Norwich
9. Edinburgh
10. Oxford

Bottom 10:

1. Swansea
2. Sheffield
3. Sunderland
4. Manchester
5. Newcastle
6. Walsall
7. Birmingham
8. London
9. Bradford
10. Middlesbrough and Stockton

^{Source: PWC}

Cities were assessed on 12 criteria that were 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, like London, Birmingham and Manchester, where large waiting lists for social housing were blamed for making them the lowest performing cities assessed by PwC.

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.

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.”