50 rural locations!

Halifax has been doing some digging into our quality of life in Great Britain.
The UK's biggest mortgage lender -- part of Lloyds Banking Group -- examined 140 Local Authority Districts to find the 50 rural locations where living standards are highest.
To find these 50 'rural hotspots', Halifax ranked local performance based on 15 key factors, covering the labour market, the housing market, the environment, education and health.

South Cambridgeshire gets the gold

The winner of Halifax's "Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey" is South Cambridgeshire. Here's why this rural district is such a nice location:

• Residents tend to be fit and well, with 95% reporting general good health;
• Higher-than-average life expectancy (81.6 years for males);
• A high employment rate (79%), with many residents enjoying high incomes (weekly average earnings of £739);
• Above-average school qualifications: (75% achieve five or more GCSE grades A-C, versus the average of 74% for England & Wales); and
• A good climate, with average rainfall of 597mm per year, versus the national average of 871mm.

So, based on health, life expectancy, employment, earnings, schooling and regional climate, South Cambridgeshire tops Halifax's table!

The north-south divide

Halifax's survey clearly identified a north-south divide among rural areas. It found that residents of southern England generally enjoy the best rural quality of life. Indeed, 36 of the 50 top-rated rural areas (72%) are in the South: 15 in the South East, 14 in the East of England and seven in the South West.

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Of the 14 remaining areas, nine are in the East Midlands, three in the West Midlands, and two in Yorkshire and the Humber.
In the North, rural areas tend to be highly rated for exam results and environmental measures, such as low population densities and light traffic flows. In the South, rural areas perform better on earnings, employment, health and weather.

The 50 rural hotspots

Here are the top 50 rural Local Authority Districts to live, as ranked by Halifax:

Rank	Local Authority District	Region
1	South Cambridgeshire	East of England
2	East Hertfordshire	South East
3	Uttlesford	East of England
4	Aylesbury Vale	South East
5	Waverley	South East
6	Tandridge	South East
7	Mid Sussex	South East
8	Chiltern	South East
9	East Cambridgeshire	East of England
10	Tonbridge and Malling	South East
11	Rushcliffe	East Midlands
12	Vale of White Horse	South East
13	West Berkshire	South East
14	Huntingdonshire	East of England
15	Wealden	South East
16	Mid Suffolk	East Anglia
17	Wychavon	West Midlands
18	South Oxfordshire	South East
19	Mid Bedfordshire	East Anglia
20	East Hampshire	South East
21	Harborough	East Midlands
22	New Forest	South East
23	Test Valley	South East
24	East Dorset	South West
25	Malvern Hills	West Midlands
26	South Kesteven	East Midlands
27	Maldon	East of England
28	Suffolk Coastal	East of England
29	Melton	East Midlands
30	West Oxfordshire	South West
31	Rutland	East Midlands
32	Hambleton	Yorkshire and The Humber
33	Kennet	South West
34	North Kesteven	East Midlands
35	Tewkesbury	South West
36	St. Edmundsbury	East of England
37	South Northamptonshire	East Midlands
38	Babergh	East of England
39	North Wiltshire	South West
40	Ryedale	North
41	Purbeck	South West
42	Forest Heath	East Anglia
43	Herefordshire County of	West Midlands
44	West Wiltshire	South West
45	South Bedfordshire	East of England
46	Cotswold	South West
47	Rother	South East
48	Broadland	East of England
49	North West Leicestershire	East Midlands
50	East Northamptonshire	East Midlands

* Ranks rural districts in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland is excluded)

The best of rural Britain

To dig deeper, let's find the leading rural areas for each of Halifax's 15 quality-of-life variables:

Labour market

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Highest employment rate: 86%	Ryedale Shetland Isles	Yorkshire and the Humber Scotland
Highest gross weekly earnings: £833	Chiltern	South East

Housing market

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Highest average number of rooms in house: 6.4	Chiltern	South East
Largest % of houses with central heating: 99.7%	East Ayrshire	Scotland

Urban environment

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Lowest population density:9 persons per sq/km	Western Isles Highlands	Scotland
Lowest traffic flows:66 cars /km	Western Isles unsecured loans	Scotland
Lowest burglary rate: 2.7 per 10,000 people	Western Isles	Scotland
Lowest % of vacant properties: 0.1%	Melton	East Midlands
Lowest total Consumer CO2 emissions: 2.2 tonnes per household	Mid Bedfordshire Waveney Tendring South Derbyshire	East of England East Midlands

Physical environment

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Lowest average annual rainfall: 552mm	Maldon	East of England
Highest average weekly sunshine: 37.4 hours	Isle of Wight	South East

Health

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Highest % of residents in good health: 95%	South Cambridgeshire Chiltern West Berkshire South Oxfordshire Isles of Scilly	East of England South East South West
Longest life expectancy at birth for males: 81.6 years	South Cambridgeshire	East of England

Education

Variable	Local Authority District	Region
Lowest average number of pupils in primary-school class: 14	Western Isles	Scotland
Highest % of 15 to 16 year olds with five or more GCSEs A-C grade: 91%	Shetland Islands Isles of Scilly	Scotland South West

The best rural area in your region

Rank	Local Authority District	Region
1	South Cambridgeshire	East of England
4	Aylesbury Vale	South East
10	Rushcliffe	East Midlands
17	Wychavon	West Midlands
24	East Dorset	South West
32	Hambleton	Yorkshire and the Humber
55	Congleton	North West
56	Castle Morpeth	North East
77	Aberdeenshire	Scotland
83	Monmouthshire	Wales

Finally, I can vouch for moving to the country.
Almost 2½ years ago, my family and I moved from west London to East Hampshire (number 20 in Halifax's rural rankings). As a result, our quality has life has improved: the bad credit loans schools are first class, people are friendlier, traffic is lighter, motorists drive more courteously, and there's hardly any aircraft noise. What's more, we can clearly see the stars at night again!