What it's like to live in Southport

Southport sits in Sefton, where 14.4% of homes are social rented, a little below the England figure of 17.1%. Most of that is housing association stock at 11%, with council housing at just 3.4%. Two thirds of homes in the borough are owned outright or on a mortgage, and 18.2% are privately rented.

The biggest social landlord by far is One Vision Housing, with 10,717 homes across the borough, followed by The Riverside Group with 2,364, Jigsaw Homes North with 1,588, Plus Dane Housing with 896 and Prima Housing Group with 577. Average weekly social rents in Sefton for 2024/25 were £92 for a one bed, £100 for a two bed and £115 for a three bed.

Sefton's residents skew older than England as a whole: 23.2% are 65 or over against 18.4% nationally, and under-16s make up 16.7%. Sefton's housing register held 3,382 households at March 2025 and the council let 631 social homes in 2024-25, which is why mutual exchange is a realistic route for many tenants here.

There is a good spread of primary schools close to the centre. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary is about half a mile away, with Linaker Street School, Linaker Primary and St Philip's Church of England Primary all around three quarters of a mile. St Teresa's Catholic Infant and Nursery School, under a mile off, covers the nursery years too.

Secondary choice is broader than many towns this size. Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre is about a mile and a half away, with Meols Cop High School nearby, Greenbank High School just under two miles, Stanley High School two miles and Peterhouse School a little further. Admission depends on catchment and faith criteria, so check with Sefton before you set your heart on one.

For children outside school hours, the parks do a lot of work: Kings Gardens and the Model Railway Village are minutes from the centre, with Princess Park, Victoria Park and Hesketh Park spread through the town. Victoria Leisure Centre and the Vue cinema are both close in, and Churchtown Library is a short trip out.

Southport is unusually well served by rail for a town of its size. Southport station is right in the centre, roughly a couple of hundred metres from the main shops, with Southport Princes Park and Southport Marine Parade close by. Birkdale is about a mile south and Meols Cop just over a mile east, which helps if you end up living away from the middle.

For drivers, the town is at the end of the road network rather than on a through route, so journeys inland take a little patience. Parking is easier in the residential streets than near the centre. Buses link the town's neighbourhoods and run along the coast, which matters if you do not drive.

Walking is the real strength here. The centre is flat, the grid of streets is easy to follow, and most of the everyday things listed above are within a mile of each other. If you live on the edges of Southport you will lean more on a bus, a bike or a car, so check the walk to the nearest station before you decide.

Southport gives you more to do than most towns of its size. The Vue cinema is about half a mile from the centre, and Victoria Leisure Centre and Everlast Gyms are closer still, with PureGym a couple of miles out for anyone living towards Churchtown or Meols Cop.

The green spaces are the town's calling card. Kings Gardens sits near the seafront, with the Model Railway Village beside it, and Princess Park, Victoria Park and Hesketh Park give you a choice of walks depending on which end of town you are in. Hesketh Park, about a mile out, is the one locals tend to make a morning of.

For eating and drinking, the centre is dense with pubs and bars, including Maloney's Bar, Barons Bar, The Wine Cellar, The Foghorn Bar and The Coronation, all within a few minutes of each other. That makes the town lively in the evenings, which is a plus for some and worth knowing if you want a quiet street. The British Legion is the nearest community centre for groups and club nights.

Census figures for the wider Sefton council area show 53.6% of adults in work, a little below the England figure of 57.4%. That partly reflects the borough's older age profile rather than a weak job market: unemployment was 3%, below the 3.5% England average, and by August 2026 unemployment-related benefit claims sat at 3.8% of working-age people against 4% nationally.

In practice, work in Southport itself leans towards the things that keep a large seaside town running: retail along the main streets, hospitality in the many pubs and bars, and health and care work, with Southport and Formby District General Hospital and Hartley Hospital both in the town.

If your work is elsewhere, the trains matter. Southport station sits in the centre and gives you a direct rail option towards Liverpool and the wider network, which is why some households here commute rather than work locally. Driving inland takes longer than the map suggests, so weigh up a rail commute if your job is in a bigger city.