This is the best place to live in the UK

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Winchester has been crowned the best place to live in the UK.

The local authority has won Halifax's Quality of Life survey because it has a high life expectancy, high employment rate and high scores in surveys on personal well-being.

The Orkney islands came second, followed by Wychavon in Worcestershire.

Read more: London house prices are growing at slowest rate for over three years

Six reasons why Winchester has the best quality of life

  • The employment rate, at 83.1 per cent, is significantly higher than the national average (73.7 per cent).
  • A high proportion (96.6 per cent) of residents report being in good or fairly good health compared to a national average of 94.6 per cent.

  • Life expectancy for men is higher than the UK average (79.5 years) at 82 years.

  • Crime rates are among the lowest in the country, with a burglary rate of 11.5 per 10,000 people compared to an average of 28.7 for the rest of the UK.
  • Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest adults in Winchester are among the happiest, satisfied, content and the least anxious in the UK.
  • Wintonians also have a good number of pubs – 12 per 10,000 adults – and health & leisure facilities – two per 10,000 adults, above the national average of 10.1 and 1.4.

There were other winners in individual categories. Residents in Kensington and Chelsea enjoy the highest weekly earnings in the UK, and Castle Point in Essex receives the lowest average rainfall.

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Martin Ellis, economist at Halifax, said: “Looking across a wide range of indicators considered by our research, residents of Winchester in Hampshire enjoy the best quality of life in the UK, benefiting from a combination of above average weekly earnings, low crime rate and good health.

"On the other hand, there is a cost associated with a high quality of life with house prices in Winchester 9.7 times the average annual local income – significantly higher than the UK average of 7.2."