The local authority district of Winchester (which includes the City of Winchester) scooped the top spot 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.

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

10 reasons why Wintonians have the best quality of life in the UK:

• The employment rate, 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 report being in good or fairly good health compared to a national average of 94.6%
• Life expectancy for men is higher than the UK average (79.5 years) at 82 years. Whilst the women of Winchester live more than two years longer than in the rest of the UK (85.3 years against 83.2 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.
• Latest ONS figures indicate the Winchester adult population is among the happiest, satisfied, content and the least anxious in the UK scoring highly in the Personal Well-Being Survey with a top 30 ranking in each category.
• Moreover, in their leisure time they 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 respectively.

The new research incorporates some key changes since last year’s survey, including two new categories – number of pubs and the availability of health clubs and leisure centres – as well as some methodological changes in the ONS Personal Well-Being Survey, in order to refresh Quality of Life Survey rankings with a broader scope.

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.

“With more and more emphasis being placed on achieving a good work-life balance, the 2016 Halifax Quality of Life Survey includes a leisure category for the first time. This has had an impact on the rankings, especially at the top.”