A Hampshire district has topped a survey for the best place to live in the UK for the fifth year in a row.
According to Halifax, Hart in Hampshire scored consistently highly across a range of categories covering residents’ health and life expectancy, personal well-being, employment, a low crime rate and good weather.
Areas in the South East dominate the table in 2015, accounting for seven of the top 10 places.
South Oxfordshire climbed 19 places to take second place, Mole Valley in Surrey moved up 12 spots to seventh, and Guildford went up 15 to eighth.
Inhabitants of Hart are the healthiest in the UK, with over 97% reporting themselves to be in good health.
Women can claim a high average life expectancy of 86.6 years and for men it is 82.4 years, both among the longest.
Adults in Hart also rate themselves to be among the happiest, most satisfied, believe what they do is worthwhile, and are the least anxious in the country.
There is also a high employment rate, with 84.5% having jobs compared to the national average of 72.9% and gross weekly earnings of £865 are 37% above the national average of £630.
The crime rate is also relatively low at 9.5 burglaries per 10,000 people, considerably lower than the 29.6 national average and there are 32.5 sunshine hours per week compared to 29.5 for the UK as a whole.
As with anything, there is a cost to however. The average price of a house is eight times the average annual pre-tax local income, compared to the national average of 6.8. Although this measure is still lower than in over half of the other areas in the top 50 best places to live.
Those living in the South East tend to enjoy the best quality of life with over half (27) of the top rated 50 local authorities being there.
Northern areas tend to receive high ratings on school exam results and environmental measures such as low population densities and low traffic flows.
Areas in the south of England typically perform better than elsewhere on average earnings, employment, health and weather.
The highest weekly average earnings are in Kensington & Chelsea at £1,238 per week, followed by City of London (£1,023 p/w) and Richmond upon Thames (£979 p/w). The UK average is £630 per week.
The biggest homes are in Uttlesford in Essex, Chiltern, South Buckinghamshire and Rutland, which all have an average of 6.4 habitable rooms. The smallest homes are in the City of London, Tower Hamlets, and Westminster (all below 4 habitable rooms). The average number of habitable rooms in the UK is 5.5.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “A mixture of good health, high wealth and a generally happy life continues to cement Hart’s place as the best place to live in the UK. Low crime rates, good weather, and a long life expectancy all play an important part in keeping this Hampshire district at the top of the pile.
“Many areas in south eastern England also perform well in terms of average earnings, employment rates, health and the weather. But the South doesn’t have it all its own way, and there are areas in the North which score highly on school exam results, and physical environment characteristics such as low population densities and low traffic flows.”
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