Winchester has scooped the title of the UK’s best place to live, according to the 2016 Halifax Quality of Life Survey.

The local authority district came top based on residents’ health and life expectancy, employment and earnings, and high scores in personal well-being surveys. People who live in Winchester also have access to a good number of leisure facilities for socialising and downtime.

According to Halifax the employment rate in Winchester, at 83.1%, is significantly higher than the national average (73.7%), while gross weekly earnings of £824 are 27% higher than the UK average (£646).

A high proportion (96.6%) of residents also report being in good or fairly good health compared to a national average of 94.6%, and life expectancy is higher than average for men and women.

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.

Other top spots

The Orkney Islands took second place, followed by Wychavon in Worcestershire, Derbyshire Dales and Hambleton in North Yorkshire.

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.”