Best place in the UK to live?
Best places to live in UK. 
Can money really buy you anything? New research from longevity specialists Club Vita has revealed the extent of the correlation between affluence and life expectancy. We can’t all afford to live in London palaces, but does that have an effect on our life expectancy? We’re always hearing about the best and worst places to live in the UK, so based on this new research where’s the best place to be for living the longest, healithiest life?
See what interesting information the research threw up over the jump. The results do show a clear link between areas of higher income and the opportunity to enjoy a longer retirement, while those living in poorer areas face a shorter life after work. This might sound obvious, but there are a surprising amount of places who buck this trend.
Nick Flint, Chief Executive of Club Vita comments: “The link between high wealth and increased life expectancy has been suspected but our analysis highlights the true extent of the longevity gap between the haves and have-nots in society.
“However, anomalies across the UK prove that there are other key factors that play an important role in determining how long people live. Club Vita’s analysis of pension schemes shows that for many people, it’s not how much you earn, but how you choose to spend it that really matters. We need to examine lifestyle, occupation and retirement circumstances more closely in order to help society as a whole to live longer but also to do so with dignity.”
Given that few of us are millionaires I’ve done the top five places to live in the UK based on the figures for life expectancy, rather than income.
1. Kensington & Chelsea
OK, so this is bang on trend – with a weekly household income of over £1,000, you’d expect this to be at the top. Houses here are among the most expensive in the UK.
2. Westminster
Another of London’s affluent boroughs, and once again no surprises it features near the top of the list. Believe it or, the weekly household income here is considerably less than places outside the capital, and it only makes it in at number 12 on that list.
3. Hart, Hampshire
Much further up the income list, people here earn more than in Westminster. It’s reasonably close to London, sandwiched in a lovely bit of countryside between Basingstoke and Aldershot, it’s an unlikely haven. Pictured is a lovely old pub in nearby Crawley – you get the idea.
4. East Dorset
These clever people have bucked the trend – life expectancy here is 83.2 but they don’t even feature on the top 20 highest income areas. Club Vita say that other factors play a part too – I reckon the gorgeous coastline might have something to do with it….
5. South Cambridgeshire
Another area where life expectancy is one of the highest in the UK, but income-wise it doesn’t feature in the top 20. Beautiful landscapes and not far from the historical gem that is Cambridge – can you start to see a link here? Just goes to show, you don’t have to be rich to have a happy and healthy retirement.
