Huntingdonshire moves into top 20 places to live

Huntingdonshire has been rated as one of the top 20 places to live in the country, according to a new study.

The district has moved from 90th on the Halifax Quality of Life Survey to 18th – making Huntingdonshire the fourth most desirable place to live in the East of England, behind Uttlesford, St Albans and neighbours South Cambridgeshire.

Halifax’s annual survey bases its results on key indicators such as health, life expectancy, well-being, employment, crime rate, weather and broadband access.

The survey showed life satisfaction in Huntingdonshire rose from 7.46 (out of 10) last year to 7.83 this year, the worthwhile rating also increased to 8.09 from 7.48 a year ago, and happiness went from 7.16 to 7.76, while anxiety fell to 2.39 from 2.61.

It also showed 94 per cent of residents had access to a good level of broadband and 96.1 per cent of adults are in good or fairly good health, the same as last year. The crime rate has also stayed stagnant.

Councillor Jason Ablewhite, executive leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, said: “This is wonderful news. We want Huntingdonshire to be in the best 10 places to live in the country so one last push and we can get there.

“I think the reason for the rise is there is a lot more confidence, not just in our business community, but for residents as well.

“We are healthy and active and have relatively full employment. We have also got a lot of opportunities for jobs, not just at the Enterprise Zone which will provide high quality jobs.

“Huntingdonshire is a great place to live, we have embraced growth and with that, we have to ensure we keep what Huntingdonshire is all about with our market towns and our rural community.”

A spokesman for Halifax said: “Huntingdonshire has delivered against a range of indicators to demonstrate that its residents have one of the best quality of life in Britain.

“The Cambridgeshire area scores highly on several measures, including health, life expectancy, employment rate, and excellent weather - with one of the lowest rainfall rates in the UK.

“So it probably comes as little surprise that adults rate themselves highly satisfied with their lives, feel they are happy and believe what they do is worthwhile. And, they feel less anxious than they did a year earlier.

“However, enjoying a high quality of life does not come at a cost either – with average house prices six times the average annual pre-tax local income; lower than the UK average of 6.2.”

• What makes living in Huntingdonshire so great? Send your views to editor@huntspost.co.uk