Halifax, a major mortgage lender, has put together a quality of life survey where it considers 26 different points contributing to living in an area. The results show which areas are best in the UK for home owners.
It doesn’t only look at different factors, but also how important each factor is to people. For example, how important is it to someone to find a house with green space nearby, or live in an area which is safe?
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Which is the best area to live in the UK?
East Hertfordshire takes first place for the best area to live in the UK. The reasons are it has great exam results in its schools, fabulous health and long life expectancy. East Hertfordshire also boasts top happiness scores and high average earnings for residents.
In 2nd, 3rd and 4th place are areas all in the South East of England: Fareham took second, Hart took third and Horsham took fourth. Fifth was Maldon, which is situated in the East of England.
Four of the top ten are places in South East and East of England due to Selby and Hambleton scoring well. North of England goes away with 6th and 7th place.
Which are the top 50 places to live in the UK?
Out of the regions, the South East of England comes top, with 18 local authorities taking top 50 spots. Wokingham came 10th, Winchester 34th and New Forest 42nd.
Second is the East of England, which has East Hertfordshire the winner. It also has 9 others in the top 50, here are a few of them:
- 9th – St Edmundsbury
- 33rd – Rochford
- 37th – Central Bedfordshire
East Midlands takes 3rd regional place where it has 7 in the top 50. Included in this are:
- 12th – South Derbyshire
- 31st – Rutland
- 38th – Charnwood
Yorkshire and Humberside has just 4 places in the top 50; Selby came 6th, Hambleton came 7th, Ryedale came 11th and York came 48th.
Nowhere in London makes it into the top 50. Only 2 make it into the top 100; Richmond upon Thames in 64th place and Kensington and Chelsea in 74th place.
Wales didn’t make it in the top 100, it’s highest ranking was the Vale of Glamorgan in 126th place.
Which are the best places to live for well-being?
Amazing scores on general health and happiness gave the top 3 their places. East Hertfordshire and Hart scored brilliantly on life expectancy where men averaged 82.5 years (3 years above the national average) and women averaged 85 years (2 years above national average).
Life satisfaction and employment were winners for Hart and Fareham. The average life satisfaction in the UK was 7.8 but they scored 8.2. The average employment level is 75% but they scored over 80%.
East Hertfordshire in more detail
We do have some more details explaining how and why East Hertfordshire came first out of the whole of the UK for the best place to live:
- 97% said they were in good or fairly good health
- 12th highest weekly earnings
- High life expectancy and some of the happiest in the UK
- Brilliant exam results from schools (73.3% achieving grade 9-4 in English and Maths)
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I began writing for Property Press Online in October 2019. Particular areas of interest are housing market news and new developments in the market.
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