HART has retained its title as the best place to live for a fifth year in a row.

The district, which includes Hartley Wintney, Odiham and Hook, was given the top spot in the Halifax Quality of Life Survey based on its high performance in a wide range of measures including residents' health and life expectancy, overall well-being, employment, a low crime rate, relatively good weather and good broadband internet access.

Cllr Stephen Parker, leader of Hart District Council, said: “We are all delighted to receive this title for the fifth consecutive year. It is a real dividend on the investment of time and effort in our green flag open spaces and £1.2m for the fleet pond restoration project, the vibrant local economy and the continued focus on health and wellbeing in the district.

"Our challenges for the future remain difficult particularly with the need to provide for more homes and infrastructure, but we will remain dedicated to maintaining the quality of life for local residents. The £25m investment in our two leisure centres, shows our commitment to keep Hart happy and healthy.

"The environment, economy and community remains right at the heart of our priorities, goals and promises as a Council.”

On average, inhabitants of Hart are the healthiest in the UK, with over 97 per cent reporting themselves to be in good health. Women can claim a high average life expectancy of 86.6 years and for men it is 82.4 years.

In addition, adults in Hart, according to the latest ONS survey on personal well-being, rate themselves to be among the happiest, most satisfied, believe what they do is worthwhile, and the least anxious in the country.

The other factors keeping it ahead are:

  • A high employment rate, with 84.5 per cent having jobs compared to the national average of 72.9 per cent
  • Well above average earnings, with fulltime gross weekly earnings of £865 – 37 per cent above the national average of £630
  • A relatively low crime rate (9.5 burglaries per 10,000 people – considerably lower than the 29.6 national average)
  • Better weather, with 32.5 hours of sunshine per week (compared to 29.5 for the UK), and an annual rainfall of 738mm (879mm for the UK).

The cost of living in Hart is high, but still lower than in over half of the other areas in the top 50 best places to live, which includes South Oxfordshire, Mole Valley and Guildford.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: "A mixture of good health, high wealth and a generally happy life continues to cement Hart's place as the best place to live in the UK. Low crime rates, good weather, and a long life expectancy all play an important part in keeping this Hampshire district at the top of the pile.

"Many areas in south eastern England also perform well in terms of average earnings, employment rates, health and the weather. But the South doesn’t have it all its own way, and there are areas in the North which score highly on school exam results, and physical environment characteristics such as low population densities and low traffic flows."