Portsmouth among the UK’s loneliest cities, what the data reveals

More and more people across the UK are living solo, and that’s starting to shape the way towns and cities feel. Whether you live in a busy city centre or a coastal town, smaller households are becoming a bigger part of everyday life.

A new study by Tarotoo reveals where single occupancy living is most concentrated, uncovering the places with the highest proportion of studio and one bedroom homes per 10,000 residents.

In Portsmouth, there are 24.90 single occupancy homes per 10,000 people, putting the city 19th in the UK. That makes living alone a real option for a good number of people, from students and young workers renting their first flat to older residents downsizing after children have moved out.

Portsmouth has fewer single occupancy homes than the top 10 cities. For example, Salford has 158.08 per 10,000 people, and Westminster has 140.92. Even Canterbury, in third place, records 63.24, more than twice Portsmouth’s rate. Cities like Lancaster, Leeds, and Cambridge also have higher numbers, reflecting a combination of student populations, city centre flats, and young professionals living on their own.

Looking at the top 10 more closely, most are either big city centres or university towns. Canterbury, Lancaster, Cambridge, and Lincoln have lots of students who need smaller homes. Westminster and Salford have city centre flats that attract professionals and short-term renters. Smaller historic cities like Winchester and St Albans have more compact homes than Portsmouth, which makes Portsmouth somewhere in the middle compared with the places where living alone is most common.

Portsmouth has a mix of one-person and larger households. Its apartments and terraces near the city centre, along with the university and naval base, support solo living without making it the norm. People can find flats to live independently, but there are still plenty of larger homes for families and shared households.

List of the UK's 'loneliest cities':