The best place to live in the countryside for quality of life is South Oxfordshire, a new survey has revealed.
According to the 2016 Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey, South Oxfordshire came top after scoring highly in the categories of health, happiness and life expectancy. In second place was Chiltern, whilst last year’s winner, Rutland, was in third.
The top 50 rural places to live in Britain are dominated by the South East, with 16 districts found in this region, followed by East of England, which takes 12 of the top 50 spots, the South West with 10, and East Midlands with seven.
South Oxfordshire scored well in a number of the categories analysed. Nearly all residents reported themselves to be in good health (97%), while life expectancy is also high – 84.7 years for women and 81.7 years for men. Eight out of 10 people are in employment, with weekly average earnings of £863.
The cost of living in South Oxfordshire is not much higher than in many other parts of Britain – with an average house price that is 6.9 times the average annual pre-tax local income – marginally higher than for the rest of the country (6.8).
Chiltern has a similar employment rate to South Oxfordshire at 80%, and those in full time work enjoy a weekly income of £912 – the highest amongst rural areas in this survey.
Residents of Rutland tend to be in good health, have a high employment rate, benefit from a low crime rate and enjoy a relatively good climate with less rainfall and more sunshine than the national average.
Big climbers in the top 20 included West Dorset, rising 47 places to 17th spot, East Hampshire up 35 places to 16th and East Dorset moving from 47 in 2015 to 20th in 2016.
The survey found that the biggest homes are in Uttlesford in Essex, Chiltern and Rutland, which all have an average of 6.4 habitable rooms.
The smallest homes are in the Orkney Islands, East Lothian, Highlands, and Argyle and Bute (all with no more than 4.6 habitable rooms). The average number of habitable rooms in Britain is 5.4.
Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “Having scored strongly across a wide range of economic, environmental and social factors, residents of South Oxfordshire can now lay claim to having the highest standard of living in rural Britain.
“Many of the towns in the top 20 are either within commuting distance to the capital or another major city. With South Oxfordshire particularly, the residents can enjoy the financial benefits of working in London and still have the rural lifestyle. Importantly having an exceptional quality of life does not necessarily come with added costs, as house prices relative to earnings in the area are not much different from the average for the country.”
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