The place you live in has a stronger impact on your quality of life than just about anything else.
When looking at quality of life and general satisfaction, there is definitely quite a lot of variation over the statistical regions that make up England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and this means that it is important to choose somewhere that has plenty of positives when you are looking to move within the UK.
While different aspects of quality of life have different levels of priority depending on your needs and stage of life, most people would agree that they want somewhere that offers a good balance between income and outgoings, as well as convenience in things they need to use all the time – for example being able to get a mobile phone signal, or having fast broadband speeds.
In order to work out where the best places to live in the UK are for overall quality of life, uSwitch has performed an in depth analysis of official statistics across a range of data from 2015, for all kinds of aspects of life.
Using the results of this, we have created uSwitch's Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index – a league table of the 138 statistical regions in the UK in order of the quality of life they offer. As well as giving insight into the best places to live right now, when compared to our previous quality of life index from 2013, it also shows which places are on the up, and which are falling down the table.
The Outer London – East and North East statistical region is one that is around the middle of the table, and has improved slightly since 2013, going up 8 places from 83 to 75. Here are some of its stats:
Employment
Employment is fairly average in Outer London – East and North East with 70% of the population working overall. 47% work normal full time hours between 35 and 45 hours per week, which is above the national average.
Income
Incomes are well above average in Outer London – East and North East with the gross weekly income of the average person there in 2015 at £551.83. Disposable income is also quite high (though perhaps not as high as weekly income might suggest) with the average household having £17,019 available to spend for the year.
House Prices
House prices are very high, with the average home in 2015 costing £277,857.14. This is not as high as some other parts of London and the South East of England, however. Rental prices are well above average at £95 per week.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy in Outer London – East and North East is good, slightly above UK averages at 80 for men and 84 for ladies.
Life expectancy is an influential factor that insurance companies use to determine life insurance premiums. You can check our advice guide on how to get a cheaper life insurance policy.
Living Costs
The cost of food for your household in Outer London – East and North East s is fairly high at £60 per week – this is around the same as most parts of London and its outlying areas.
Other Important Factors
Outer London – East and North East has surprisingly mediocre statistics for communication technology, with 91% mobile phone coverage, and broadband speeds averaging 27.1Mbps.
Use our broadband postcode checker to see which deals and what speeds are on offer in your area.
As with most parts of the capital, Outer London – East and North East benefits from good incomes but suffers from high prices, which is why it finds itself in the middle of our table.
More to life than rankings
At uSwitch, we know that there is more to life than rankings, stats and figures, and our Qualify of Life Index merely highlights the vast differences in the experiences of people across the UK.
Whether you're living in the best city or the worst, millions of households in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland face financial struggles including rising energy bills and credit card debt. That's why it's more important than ever for households to assess their budgets, and uSwitch.com offers a great way to start.
Below you can find ways to save on everything from car insurance to mobile bills.
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Place to Live 2015 — Where did your region rank?
About the research
The uSwitch.com study assessed 138 local areas (NUTS3 regions) for 26 factors such as salaries, disposable household income, and the cost of essential goods including food bills, fuel costs and energy bills. The study also factored in lifestyle issues like hours of sunshine, working hours and life expectancy to ensure a full picture of the quality of life in each NUTS3 region.
For more about the study's methodology, read the full press release .