A new study from Halifax Home Insurance shows that residents of Elmbridge in Surrey in the South East of England have the best quality of life in Great Britain. Hart, Wokingham, Chiltern and East Dorset are the next highest ranked areas in the survey.
Performance in each local authority (LA) across Great Britain was scored across a range of indicators which influence the quality of life. These variables include employment, earnings, housing quality, weather, traffic flows, crime, education performance and health.
Elmbridge scores highly on a number of variables. Earnings in Elmbridge are amongst the highest in the country (£1,112 per week). Residents are typically owner-occupiers (78%) and houses are larger than average (6.1 rooms). Householders are generally healthy (95% in good or fair health) and the area sees two hours more sunshine a week than the British average. Sixteen of the twenty-five LAs with the best quality of life are in the South East of England and seven are in the East of England. One is in the East Midlands with one in the South West.
Quality of Life and House Prices
In 22 of the 25 local authorities with the best quality of life, house prices trade at a premium to the average house price in their region. On average this premium is £65,643 or 29%. In Elmbridge the premium is £220,527. The three LAs in the top twenty five which trade at a discount to the regional average and potentially offer the best value for money for homebuyers are Aylesbury Vale (discount of £8,254), Vale of the White Horse (-£4,933) and Mid Suffolk (-£19,553).
* The average house price in Elmbridge, the area with the best quality of life, is £457,461, the highest outside of London. The area has the third highest average house price in the country behind Kensington & Chelsea (£613,800) and Westminster (£490,012).
* The average house price in Elmbridge trades at a premium of £220,527 to its regional average, the highest premium of any of the top twenty five LAs and second only to the premium in Kensington & Chelsea (£332,492) across Great Britain.
* The average house price in the LA with the highest quality of life in each region of England and Wales trades at a premium to the region's average house price. This premium is on average £88,806.
* In Scotland the average house price in the LA with the highest quality of life, the Shetland Islands, trades at a discount of £35,461 to the average Scottish house price.
* There are clear pockets of value in most regions of Great Britain. At least one LA in the top ten areas for the quality of life in each region trade at a discount to the regional average, except for the Midlands.
