GUEST POST: UK’s Most & Least Accessible Cities 2025 Revealed: Ely Ranked Number 1 Kingston-Upon-Hull Least Accessible For 2nd Year Running
Grosvenor Mobility has analysed accessibility across more than 70 UK cities, comparing facilities, including hotels, restaurants, parking, public toilets and attractions against population figures to reveal the most and least accessible locations for 2025.
This year, Ely takes the top spot, with Chichester, Bangor, Stirling, Canterbury, and Winchester following closely behind. The most improved cities year-on-year were St David’s (17 places), Hereford (13) and Dunfermline (11), compared to the steepest declines of St Asaph (-24), Brighton & Hove (-15) and Salford (-14).
Of all of the UK’s largest cities, London was the most improved, rising 6 places from 2024 to 2025 thanks to an additional 612 accessible toilets, 157 parking spots, and 43 attractions.
With almost one-quarter of the UK population (24%) having a disability, 16-million people are likely to have to deal with more hardship thanks to the Spring Statement announcement of a £4.8 billion reduction in welfare spending, meaning where you live is more important than ever.
The Most Accessible Cities in the UK
*compared to total population
| City | % Of Accessible Hotels* | % Of Accessible Restaurants* | % Of Accessible Parking Spots* | % Of Accessible Toilets* | % Of Accessible Attractions* | Accessibility Score |
| Ely | 0.0208% | 0.1511% | 0.0521% | 0.0412% | 0.1530% | 349 |
| Chichester | 0.0189% | 0.2931% | 0.0315% | 0.0504% | 0.1040% | 346 |
| Bangor (Wales) | 0.0177% | 0.2766% | 0.0353% | 0.0521% | 0.2606% | 343 |
| Stirling (Scotland) | 0.0270% | 0.1650% | 0.0379% | 0.0081% | 0.1325% | 329 |
| Canterbury | 0.0218% | 0.1652% | 0.0581% | 0.0127% | 0.0672% | 324 |
| Winchester | 0.0144% | 0.1155% | 0.0206% | 0.0217% | 0.1041% | 308 |
| St. Davids (Wales) | 0.1484% | 0.8160% | 0.2967% | 0.0330% | 0.3303% | 307 |
| Truro | 0.0260% | 0.1388% | 0.0130% | 0.0121% | 0.2833% | 306 |
| Durham | 0.0238% | 0.1524% | 0.0178% | 0.0138% | 0.0404% | 302 |
| Wells | 0.0083% | 0.1073% | 0.0908% | 0.0433% | 0.1258% | 300 |
Ely tops the list as the most accessible city in the UK. Despite its small population of 19,189, the city offers a wide range of restaurants, hotels, and accessible attractions – only 40 points off a perfect score!
Chichester was in second place for the 2nd year in a row, with 1.5x Ely’s population (31,729) and plays host to 93 accessible restaurants out of 193 total restaurants, nearly half of all available. The city also has 14 accessible toilet facilities and 35 accessible attractions.
In third place is last year’s winner, Bangor, with a population of 16,993. While the city gained more accessible restaurants (6), it fell short on accessible toilets (-2), with only 7 toilets total available to begin with.
Despite these cities having plenty of accessible options available to both visitors and residents, the numbers are inadequate compared to total population figures. According to the Equality Act 2010, service providers are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for people with disabilities. For example, this would be adding a ramp to the building for wheelchair users.
Sadly, the requirements of this act are not being met across the board. In contrast, the least accessible cities have much larger populations on average, meaning more accessible facilities are required to meet the demand.
The Least Accessible Cities in the UK
*compared to total population
| City | % Of Accessible Hotels* | % Of Accessible Restaurants* | % Of Accessible Parking Spots* | % Of Accessible Toilets* | % Of Accessible Attractions* | Accessibility Score |
| Kingston-upon-Hull | 0.0037% | 0.0524% | 0.0015% | 0.0033% | 0.0070% | 40 |
| Bradford | 0.0045% | 0.0437% | 0.0000% | 0.0033% | 0.0165% | 51 |
| Birmingham | 0.0063% | 0.0460% | 0.0064% | 0.0037% | 0.0060% | 71 |
| Leicester | 0.0057% | 0.0632% | 0.0034% | 0.0025% | 0.0187% | 77 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 0.0019% | 0.0480% | 0.0119% | 0.0058% | 0.0100% | 83 |
| Sunderland | 0.0042% | 0.0582% | 0.0018% | 0.0036% | 0.0446% | 93 |
| Wolverhampton | 0.0030% | 0.0530% | 0.0038% | 0.0068% | 0.0239% | 99 |
| =8. Sheffield | 0.0052% | 0.0763% | 0.0022% | 0.0094% | 0.0112% | 100 |
| =8. Plymouth | 0.0060% | 0.0569% | 0.0157% | 0.0052% | 0.0052% | 100 |
| 10. Coventry | 0.0067% | 0.0453% | 0.0041% | 0.0070% | 0.0160% | 40 |
The least accessible city for the second year in a row, Kingston-upon-Hull, has a massive population of 270,806. Despite its huge population, the city only has 10 accessible hotels and 4 accessible car parks, along with 19 accessible attractions. In addition, only 148/467 restaurants are accessible for a total percentage of 32%.
Bradford is the second least accessible city in the UK, down 13 points from last year.
Here, there are only 11 accessible attractions, 15 accessible hotels and 156/741 restaurants accessible (21%). In addition, the city saw a resounding no accessible parking this year – a stark gap for a city with 333,000 residents.
Birmingham also ranks low on the list, despite its population of 1.12 million individuals. There are only 70 accessible hotels, 67 accessible car parks and 66 attractions available to those less able, with only 26% of restaurants (542/2,071) accessible to boot.
Leighton Roberts, Managing Director at Grosvenor Mobility commented:
“At Grosvenor Mobility, accessibility is at the heart of everything we do. We’re committed to supporting individuals with low mobility, so it’s disheartening to see just how far many UK cities have to go to meet even the most basic accessibility standards.
With almost a quarter of the UK population living with a disability, these facilities aren’t a luxury, but a necessity. Despite this, even the top-ranking cities in our research often show accessible facility ratios of under 50%, highlighting the urgent need for widespread improvement.
Small, practical changes, such as installing ramps, grab bars or automatic doors, can make a world of difference. We urge local authorities and service providers to assess what’s in place and take active steps toward building truly inclusive communities.
“Easy solutions such as ramps, grab bars and automatic doors can make life much easier for someone with a disability. We encourage local councils to look at their public facilities and consider what they can do to make their cities more accessible.”
You can browse our complete collection of recliner chairs and adjustable beds, designed to improve accessibility and comfort.
About Grosvenor Mobility
With over 30 years experience, the Grosvenor Mobility family cares for every customer, supplying the best UK made-to-measure furniture in Riser Recliner Chairs and Adjustable Beds, prioritising customers’ quality of life.
Methodology
We looked at the percentage of accessible facilities compared with non-accessible facilities in each city. We ranked each city on its percentage of accessible facilities and scored points based on their ranking, (1 point to lowest rank up to 76 for highest).We did this across hotels, restaurants, parking, toilets and attractions to accumulate a total score for each city.
Sources used:
https://citypopulation.de
https://bluebadgeparking.com/view/26.327117%2C-87.175%2C71.036328%2C81.575/road
https://www.toiletmap.org.uk
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk
https://visitrevisit.co.uk/