People with less money typically spend a greater share of their income on food than those with more. That means when food prices rise, the impact falls hardest on those least able to absorb it. This tool shows which neighbourhoods across the UK face the greatest barriers to accessing affordable food, combining measures of proximity, affordability, and need.

• Data Service: Healthy and Sustainable Places     
• Coverage: UK
• Time period: Since 2022. Current version released 2023
• Update frequency: Static
• Access: Open

What it is

People on the lowest incomes spend much more of their money on food than those on the highest, which means they feel price rises much more sharply. But income is only part of the story. Where you live also has a big impact on whether affordable, healthy food is within reach: how far the nearest shop is, whether online deliveries are available, how good the local transport is. Until recently, there was no consistent way to identify which neighbourhoods face the greatest combination of these barriers, or to understand what is driving the problem locally.

The Priority Places for Food Index (PPFI) shows small geographical areas across the UK by how vulnerable they are to increases in the cost of living. It pulls together seven key metrics:

• Proximity to supermarkets and other food shops
• Proximity to non-supermarket food provision
• Accessibility to supermarkets
• Access to online food deliveries
• Fuel poverty
• Socio-demographic barriers to food access
• Indicators of family food need – including free school meal eligibility and foodbank proximity.

The index makes it possible to identify the places most in need of support and to understand which factors are driving that need locally.

The index is mapped to Lower Super Output Areas in England and Wales, Data Zones in Scotland, and Super Output Areas in Northern Ireland. These are neighbourhood zones that are used to compare local data across the country and represent small areas, identifying data that might be lost in a bigger picture or town-wide view. The underlying data is now also available at constituency and ward level. It was originally developed in 2022 as a collaboration between the Consumer Data Research Centre and consumer group Which?, and is now maintained by the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service.

How researchers can use it

• Identify which neighbourhoods face the greatest combination of barriers to accessing affordable food and explore how those barriers cluster together or operate independently.
• Study the relationship between Priority Places for Food and other area-level outcomes, linking the PPFI to health, housing, economic, or social data across matching geographies.
• Identify priority areas to target research and interventions to drive more equitable access to food.
• Analyse how food vulnerability intersects with regulatory changes, such as restrictions on the placement of high fat, salt, and sugar products, across neighbourhoods with different PPFI profiles.

How policymakers can use it

• Target food-related support programmes, retailer engagement, or cost-of-living interventions toward the areas of highest need, using a consistent and transparent evidence base.
• Incorporate food vulnerability into Joint Strategic Needs Assessments, local food strategies, and health inequalities frameworks.
• Engage retailers, foodbanks, and charities using shared data, making the case for expanded provision in underserved areas.

Case study snapshot

Which? used the PPFI as the evidence base for its Affordable Food for All campaign, calling on major supermarkets to improve access to budget ranges in the areas of greatest need. Using the index to identify and communicate which parts of the country were most underserved, the campaign secured commitments from Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco to introduce cheaper product ranges at convenience stores in high-priority areas and prompted the government to commit to clearer unit pricing legislation. The Competition and Markets Authority also launched an inquiry into loyalty card pricing following related Which? research. The index gave the campaign a shared, credible evidence base that policymakers, retailers, and campaign partners could all work from.

Access and availability

Open access. The index and interactive map are openly available and accessible via the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service. Underlying data and documentation can be downloaded directly.

Powered by SDR UK

The PPFI is maintained by the Healthy and Sustainable Places Data Service, which makes this tool freely available to local authorities, charities, retailers, and researchers without each needing to build it from scratch. The result is novel, research ready, data assets for understanding access to healthy and affordable food, which is already shaping retail behaviour, local government decisions, and national policy. This demonstrates the value and potential of SDR UK’s data infrastructure, which is enabling researchers to unlock the power of smart data to improve lives. 

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