Quality of life found in Wokingham

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by Kay Murchie

Edinburgh was recently named the best place to live in the UK by 4Homes poll.

Now, research conducted by Halifax Estate Agents has said that the residents of Wokingham, Berkshire have the highest level of quality of life in Great Britain. Last year, the town was in third place but has climbed to the top of the table this year.

Wokingham performed well in a number of categories such as education, employment, earnings, house quality, weather, carbon emissions, crime and health.

In second, third and fourth place were South Buckinghamshire, Chiltern and Surrey Heath respectively.

Life expectancy in Wokingham is some 80 years at birth, one of the highest in the country with 95% of residents saying their health is ‘good’ or ‘fairly good’. In addition, wages are in the top 5 nationally, approximately £744 per week.

84% of Wokingham’s residents own their house with the majority being larger properties with an average of 6.2 rooms.

Martin Ellis, chief group economist at Halifax said people in Wokingham are inclined to be healthy and have relatively high earnings. Wokingham also has good school results and better than average weather.

Mr Ellis added that the downside is that property prices are £45,000 above the average for the south-east. Overall, the south-east appeared to be the best place to live.

Out of the 30 locations in the table, 22 were in the south-east of the country, 6 were in the east of the England and 2 in the East Midlands.