Residents of South Oxfordshire enjoy the best quality of life of any rural area in Great Britain, according to the 2016 Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey.
As a result of improvements in the levels of personal well-being of adults in the area of South Oxfordshire, the local authority district (LAD) has risen up the rankings to claim the title for best rural quality of life, having only just made the top 10 last year (10th place). Residents here rate themselves as happy and content with a high level of life satisfaction and not a great deal of anxiety.
Residents of South Oxfordshire scored well in a number of the categories analysed, with health also being a significant factor: 97% of those living in the area report themselves to be in good health. Meanwhile, female life expectancy is also high, at an average age of 84.7 years, a full three years longer than males (81.7 years).
Four out of every five residents (81%) are classified as being employed, and those in a full time occupation typically enjoy high incomes, with weekly average earnings of £863. To top it all, 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 – only marginally higher than for the rest of the country (6.8).
The area includes the constituency of Ed Vaizey MP, Tory Minister in the Department for Culture and Department for Business.
The inhabitants of this rural Buckinghamshire LAD also tend to score well, with a high average female life expectancy of 86.7 years, and 97% reporting themselves to be in good health.
The employment rate is similar to South Oxfordshire at 80%, and those in full time occupation typically enjoy high incomes with weekly average earnings of £912 – the highest amongst rural areas in this survey and 46% above the average for all rural areas. School performance is also strong with 75% of 15+ year olds achieving five or more GCSE results at grades A-C.
Last year’s winner, Rutland, is Britain’s third most desirable rural place to live. Residents of the East Midlands LAD 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.
There were several big climbers in the top 20, with 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.
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.”
The top 50 rural places to live in Britain are again dominated by the south east with 16 districts found in this region, followed by east of England, which claims 12 of the top 50 spots, the south west with 10, and East Midlands with seven.
Areas from outside the south in the top 50 besides Rutland include Hambleton in North Yorkshire (18th), Wychavon in the West Midlands (24th), Monmouthshire (35th), the Orkney Islands (46th) and Ribble Valley in the North West (49th).
Halifax said that Southern areas tend to receive higher ratings for weekly earnings, the weather, health, and life expectancy. Northern areas score well on education in terms of grades and smaller class sizes, lower house prices in relation to earnings, and both lower traffic flows and population densities.