Hambleton named as fourth best place to live in UK

Hambleton is one of the best places to live in the UK, according to a new study.

The district came fourth on Halifax’s quality of life survey, just behind the Orkney Islands in Scotland, Richmondshire and Rutland.

The survey looks at a range of data including the labour market, the housing market, the environment, education, health, personal wellbeing and leisure to rank the areas with the best quality of life.

Hambleton was up from 28th in 2017.

It was Richmondshire’s excellent personal well-being scores, low crime rates and traffic volumes, as well as boasting a large number of pubs in proportion to its population size, that helped it to secure the runner-up spot.

High employment levels, low crime rate, strong exam results, smaller primary school class sizes and good health and happiness scores helped propel Orkney to the top spot, Halifax said.

London has just two areas in the full top 50 list, Westminster in 15th and Richmond-upon-Thames, 40th. Parts of the South tended to score particularly well on employment, earnings, life expectancy and health and the weather, while northern region typically fared better in terms of housing affordability, lower traffic flows and population densities, and smaller primary school sizes.

Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: “While the South East continues to have the most locations in the top 50, we’ve seen northern areas perform particularly well on education, while they also benefit from lower house prices when compared to average earnings.”

The full list:

1. Orkney, Scotland
2. Richmondshire, Yorkshire and The Humber
3. Rutland, East Midlands
4. Hambleton, Yorkshire and The Humber
5. Eden, North West
6. South Oxfordshire, South East
7. Cotswold, South West
8. Ryedale, Yorkshire and The Humber
9. St Albans, East of England
10. Derbyshire Dales, East Midlands
11. Vale of White Horse, South East
12. Waverley, South East
13. Hart, South East
14. East Hertfordshire, East of England
15. Westminster, London
16. Winchester, South East
17. Rushmoor, South East
18. Uttlesford, East of England
19. Wychavon, West Midlands
20. Harborough, East Midlands
21. South Cambridgeshire, East of England
22. Rushcliffe, East Midlands
23. Ribble Valley, North West
24. Surrey Heath, South East
25. Wokingham, South East
26. Harrogate, Yorkshire and The Humber
27. Babergh, East of England
28. West Oxfordshire, South East
29. South Bucks, South East
30. Windsor and Maidenhead, South East
31. Warwick, West Midlands
32. Elmbridge, South East
33. Chichester, South East
34. Stratford-on-Avon, West Midlands
35. Lichfield, West Midlands
36. Malvern Hills, West Midlands
37. Rochford, East of England
38. Chiltern, South East
39. Shetland, Scotland
40. Richmond upon Thames, London
41. West Berkshire, South East
42. Basingstoke and Deane, South East
43. South Hams, South West
44. Fareham, South East
45. St Edmundsbury, East of England
46. Wycombe, South East
47. Mid Suffolk, East of England
48. Monmouthshire, Wales
49. Daventry, East Midlands
50. Selby, Yorkshire and The Humber