Where are Britain’s best places to live?

The Halifax Quality of Life research has looked at hundreds of local authorities and compared how they measure across 26 factors. The results have been weighted based on how important each factor is to someone buying a home.

Looking at the top five places, it’s not a very even spread. Two are in the East of England, while three are in the South East.

While affordability has been taken into account in the scores, we found that the average property price in all of these areas exceeds the UK average of £235,298, according to the latest Land Registry data.

We’ve taken a closer look at the top five areas according to the survey to reveal their best features and average property prices (according to the Land Registry).

1. East Hertfordshire

Region: East of England

Average house price: £385,433

Best bits: East Hertfordshire has been crowned the best place to live as it combines great exam results, high life expectancy, high average earnings and reports of excellent health and happiness scores from locals.

While average house prices are around £150,000 more than the UK average, perhaps spending a bit extra is worth it to live near the area’s picturesque historic towns including Bishop’s Stortford and Hertford, meander along its rivers and leafy walking routes, and even explore the Henry Moore Foundation sculpture park – all less than an hour from central London.

2. Fareham

Region: South East

Average house price: £288,054

Best bits: The Hampshire borough of Fareham contains towns such as Portchester, Titchfield, Locks Heath and Fareham. Its residents rated their life satisfaction at 8.2 out of 10, compared with the average of 7.8 for the UK.

Perhaps this is due to the wealth of beautiful green space at the likes of Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Holly Hill Woodland Park and Portchester Castle.

3. Hart

Region: South East

Average house price: £429,153

Best bits: Pricey Hart covers parts of Hampshire and Surrey, with such towns as Fleet, Hook and Crondall. It’s a former Halifax Quality of Life survey winner (taking the crown in 2017), but it has dropped down to third place this year. Men in the area have an impressive life expectancy of 82.5 years – three more years than the national average.

Hart residents enjoy hamlets filled with quaint shops, the lush Basingstoke Canal, thriving local wildlife living in Yateley Common Country Park, and more, so it’s certainly a pretty place to live.

4. Horsham

Region: South East

Average house price: £384,084

Best bits: Found in the county of Sussex, Horsham is another place where you can get back to nature.

Among TripAdvisor’s top 10 things to do in the area are visits to Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, Sumners Ponds, Warnham Local Nature Reserve and Leechpool and Owlbeech Woods – each would look at home on the front of a postcard. And, as the picture above proves, the residential areas aren’t too shabby either.

5. Maldon

Region: East of England

Average house price: £324,912

Best bits: Located on the Blackwater estuary, this Essex town boasts barges, battlefields and Byrhtnoth – the name of the Anglo Saxon warrior whose statue stands proud on the riverside promenade.

There’s a strong maritime history here, along with miles of salt marshes, nature reserves and a charming town centre to wander around. What’s more, it’s the home of Maldon sea salt.

How does your area rank?

As suggested by the top five, the South East and East of England are the highest-ranking regions, collectively answering for 27 local authorities in the top 50.

The only places in the North of England to get a mention are all in Yorkshire and The Humber, and the only place in Scotland on the list is Orkney.

Londoners won’t spot any of their local areas on the list. Richmond upon Thames is the highest-ranking area in the city but came in 64th. There’s nowhere in Wales either, as the top-rated Vale of Glamorgan only managed 126th place.

The top 50 local authorities are shown in the table below, in order of how they rank.

How to find the best place to live

Choosing where to buy a home can be tricky. It’s a big decision, and can feel overwhelming if you’re looking to move to a new area.

While some of the factors taken into account here, such as exam grades and green space, might well influence your decision, different things matter to different people. One person’s dismay at living near a motorway might be a vital commuter route to someone else.

We’ve created an area comparison tool that can help you to see how different areas weigh up for things like local house prices, Ofsted ratings of local schools and life expectancy. You can compare areas, or against the national average.

To start, simply type in the name of an area or postcode, or scroll through the list below.