Mid-Suffolk offers best quality of life in Britain's rural areas

Mid-Suffolk has the best quality of life amongst rural local authorities in Britain with some of the healthiest and longest living residents, according to the Halifax "Rural" Areas Quality of Life Survey.

South Cambridgeshire and East Hertfordshire follow Mid Suffolk in the top three rural area.

House prices trade at a premium to the average house price in their region in 22 of the top 30 rural local authorities with the best quality of life; the largest premium being in Chiltern (£124,370).

The East of England region has seven rural local authorities in the top ten.

Harborough in the East Midlands has the best quality of life outside the south of England. Aberdeenshire and Monmouthshire have the best quality of life in Scotland and Wales respectively.

Fourteen of the top 30 rural authorities in this survey are also in the top 30 of the quality of life survey for all local authorities in Britain.

Martin Ellis, economist at the Halifax, commented: “Residents of Mid Suffolk have the best quality of life of any rural area in Great Britain. They tend to be healthy, with one of the longest life expectancy rates, and live in larger than average houses. Mid Suffolk also has good school results and the weather is better than average. Significantly, average house prices in Mid Suffolk trade at an average of £9,810 below the regional average. Therefore, an excellent quality of life comes at a relatively reasonable price in Mid Suffolk."