Where People Are Moving To In the UK In 2026

Population growth slowed sharply across Great Britain in the year to mid-2025, while the latest local figures show positive internal migration in several fast-growing areas. England and Wales together added roughly 224,900 residents between mid-2024 and mid-2025, while Scotland grew by only about 2,200, and Wales recorded an overall decline. Internal migration nevertheless remained substantial, redirecting residents toward expanding towns, rural districts, and metropolitan fringes. The strongest examples include rapidly growing English communities such as Rugby and Mid Suffolk, the Edinburgh growth belt in Scotland, and places such as Denbighshire, and Derry City and Strabane, where migration is helping sustain local population gains.

Rugby, England

Rugby was the fastest-growing local authority in England and Wales between mid-2024 and mid-2025. Its population rose 2.4% to 125,594, a gain of about 2,930 residents in a single year. The borough sits at the center of an unusually large housing pipeline, giving its recent population growth a visible physical counterpart. Rugby Borough Council's 2025 Preferred Option proposes 12,978 new homes between 2024 and 2045, an average of 618 a year. The three largest allocations, at Houlton, South West Rugby, and Eden Park, account for 8,434 of that total.

Rugby's position also gives newcomers access to several employment markets without being in a major city. Coventry lies nearby, Birmingham is accessible to the northwest, and rail connections put London within commuting distance. Continued growth is already forcing infrastructure planning beyond housing alone: the council says additional development will require another secondary school, and a site has been identified in the northeast of the town. That combination of new homes, transport access, and expanding services makes Rugby one of Britain's clearest current growth centers.

Mid Suffolk, England

Mid Suffolk's population rose about 2.1% in the latest year, making it the second-fastest-growing local authority in England and Wales. Its recent growth has been supported by people relocating from elsewhere in Britain rather than by natural population increase, which is negative across most of the region. In the year to mid-2025, the district recorded roughly 8,050 arrivals from other parts of the UK and 5,500 departures, producing a net internal-migration gain of about 2,540.

Housing pressure follows population growth. The government's standard method calculation now puts the district's assessed housing need at roughly 748 homes a year, substantially above the 535-per-year figure in the adopted joint local plan. New affordable homes are being added in the smaller settlements as well. Sixteen are under construction on the site of the former Paddock House care home in Eye, due for completion in 2027, and eight were handed over at Loraine Way in Bramford in 2025. Unlike a conventional commuter suburb, Mid Suffolk spreads its growth across market towns, villages, and countryside between Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, and Norwich.

Tewkesbury, England

Tewkesbury grew by roughly 2.0% between mid-2024 and mid-2025, placing it third among local authorities in England and Wales. Its rapid expansion is not simply a temporary population spike. The borough has a long record of migration-led growth, and current planning documents show residential development continuing on a scale large enough to reshape settlements around Tewkesbury and Ashchurch.

The Garden Communities east of Tewkesbury illustrate the scale involved. Permission for 850 homes at Fiddington was granted on appeal in 2020; the site is now being built out by Persimmon, and houses in the southern part of the development area are already occupied. Consultations launched by the North Ashchurch Consortium and Newland Homes cover approximately 3,785 further homes between them, and applications for Ministry of Defence land near Aston Cross and a site near Pammington would add about 535 more. The council estimates a borough-wide housing requirement of roughly 600 homes per year.

Tewkesbury's location near Gloucester and Cheltenham gives movers access to two substantial employment centers.

Denbighshire, Wales

Denbighshire stands out because Wales as a whole lost population in 2024-25, yet the county continued growing. Its population rose by roughly 0.4%, and migration from elsewhere in the UK made a meaningful contribution to that growth. Between mid-2024 and mid-2025, Denbighshire gained 843 people through net internal migration and 54 through net international migration, more than offsetting a natural decrease of 527.

Much of the current development is visible along the north coast. In Rhyl, Denbighshire County Council is pursuing a broad regeneration program that combines new housing with commercial redevelopment, public-space improvements, and active-travel routes. In February 2026, the council confirmed Wales & West Housing as its development partner for Maes Emlyn, a former older persons' housing complex vacant since 2021, where 23 homes for social rent are proposed. The council is also preparing to appoint a contractor to convert vacant upper floors at 64 High Street and 2 to 4 Wellington Road into affordable flats above refurbished retail units.

East Lothian, Scotland

East Lothian recorded Scotland's fastest population growth between mid-2024 and mid-2025, adding approximately 1,280 residents, or 1.1%, to reach 116,460. Migration has been central to the council area's expansion, and the National Records of Scotland also identifies East Lothian as one of the country's stronger destinations for moves between Scottish council areas.

The western part of the council area functions increasingly as an extension of Edinburgh's housing market. Musselburgh lies immediately beyond the capital, while Wallyford has undergone extensive residential expansion around its rail station. East Lothian Council and its housing partners have continued adding affordable homes in Wallyford, Musselburgh, Tranent, and Longniddry alongside much larger private developments. Rail services from Wallyford and Musselburgh provide direct access to Edinburgh, making the area practical for households that want to remain connected to the capital while living outside its boundary.

Midlothian, Scotland

Midlothian's population increased by around 670 people, or 0.7%, between mid-2024 and mid-2025, the second-strongest rate of any Scottish council area. Its growth is also structurally different from most of the country. Midlothian and Glasgow City were the only council areas where births outnumbered deaths in the latest year, and official projections put Midlothian's population growth at 14.7% over the decade to mid-2032, the highest rate in Scotland, with moves from other Scottish council areas expected to supply much of it.

Housing development south of Edinburgh provides the council area with the capacity to accommodate that movement. Around 1,070 homes had been completed at Shawfair and Craighall Village by mid-2026, with more than 1,100 under construction and roughly 3,000 more progressing through the planning system. Eight housebuilders are active across the site at once. Between a fifth and a quarter of the homes are earmarked for affordable rent, and an all-through school campus is due to open at Shawfair in June 2028. The Borders Railway also links Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange, and Gorebridge directly with Edinburgh.

Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's newest council-level figures currently run one year behind those available for Great Britain, but the latest NISRA estimates still identify Derry City and Strabane as the country's strongest local growth case. Its population increased by 1.0%, or 1,524 people, between mid-2023 and mid-2024, the largest percentage increase among Northern Ireland's 11 local-government districts. Net migration added an estimated 374 people in 2023-24, while natural change added 188, and NISRA's "other changes" category added 962, making the latter the largest component of growth.

The district is also planning for continued residential and economic development rather than treating recent growth as temporary. A 14-week call for development sites covering all 47 settlements in the district closed on 31 July 2026, seeking land for housing, employment, economic development, and town-center projects over the next five to ten years. Those submissions feed into the Local Policies Plan, the second and final stage of the council's Local Development Plan 2032.

Derry itself remains the district's major employment, education, and service center, while Strabane and surrounding settlements provide a markedly different housing environment. Because the Northern Ireland estimates lag those for Great Britain, the next NISRA release will be the first indication of whether that growth held through 2024-25.

Where Britain's Population Growth Is Shifting

The UK's latest population figures do not point toward one dominant destination. Instead, they show residents concentrating in expanding English towns, rural districts, and the outer edge of Edinburgh's metropolitan area, while Denbighshire and Derry City and Strabane reached their population gains through different combinations of migration, natural change, and statistical adjustments. That redistribution is already influencing housing targets, school provision, transport networks, and local development plans. As national population growth slows, the location of internal migration may become increasingly important in determining which parts of the UK continue expanding fastest.