New research has produced an index based on a combination of house prices and happiness.
Ever wondered where you can find an affordable place to live that also offers a great quality of life?
Hamptons International has looked at local house prices and the Government’s Life Satisfaction Index to find the best and worst places to live in the UK.
The property company looked at the ratio of house prices to average incomes.
The life satisfaction scores are taken from official Office for National Statistics data where people were asked to rate their quality of life on a scale from 1 to 10.
Worst places
Here are the places Hamptons says have the worst combination of home affordability and life satisfaction.
|
Ranking |
Area |
Ratio of house prices to average income |
Life satisfaction score (out of 10) |
|
10 |
Guildford |
8.8 |
7.3 |
|
9 |
Enfield |
8.7 |
7.3 |
|
8 |
Hammersmith and Fulham |
16.8 |
7.3 |
|
7 |
Ealing |
11.9 |
7.3 |
|
6 |
Oxford |
9.1 |
7.3 |
|
5 |
East Hampshire |
8.1 |
7.2 |
|
4 |
Brent |
10.6 |
7.2 |
|
3 |
Brentwood |
6.5 |
7.2 |
|
2 |
Lewisham |
9.3 |
7.2 |
|
1 |
Haringey |
12.2 |
7.2 |
Best places
And here are the places with the best combination of house prices and happiness.
|
Ranking |
Area |
Ratio of house prices to average income |
Life satisfaction score (out of 10) |
|
10 |
Eilean Siar (Outer Hebrides) |
4.4 |
8 |
|
9 |
Stafford |
4.3 |
7.6 |
|
8 |
East Cambridgeshire |
4 |
7.6 |
|
7 |
Darlington |
3 |
7.5 |
|
6 |
North Lincolnshire |
3.3 |
7.5 |
|
5 |
Stockton-on-Tees |
3.4 |
7.5 |
|
4 |
Staffordshire Moorlands |
4.2 |
7.7 |
|
3 |
Copeland, Cumbria |
2 |
7.6 |
|
2 |
Ribble Valley, Lancashire |
3.6 |
7.8 |
|
1 |
Allerdale, Cumbria |
3.4 |
7.8 |
A different north/south divide
[SPOTLIGHT]As you can see, nine of the 10 best places to live are in northern England or Scotland, with only East Cambridgeshire in the southern half of Britain.
By contrast, all of the worst places to live are in southern England, with six London boroughs among them.
Although the ranking is somewhat arbitrary, it does highlight that people living in more affordable rural areas tend to be happier with their life, even if perhaps they are not earning as much as they could living in a town or city.
And those living in more expensive areas such as Lewisham and Haringey, where perhaps there is higher unemployment and other social problems, are unhappier both as a result of these issues and a high cost of living.
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