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Hart in North East Hampshire has been crowned the UK's best place to live in an annual quality of life survey.

The Orkney Islands in Scotland took second place, followed by Rutland in the East Midlands, Wychavon in Worcestershire - and last year's winner Winchester in fifth place.

Hart, which contains the town of Fleet, has come out on top five times in the past six years in the Halifax Quality of Life Survey, which took into account factors such as residents' health and life expectancy, wellbeing, earnings, employment, crime rates and weather.

(Image: Getty)

But living in an area with such a good quality of life comes at a price, with the average house price in Hart, at £419,231 standing at 8.8 times the average annual pre-tax local income.

Hart rocketed back up to first place from 26th position last year having scored strongly in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) personal wellbeing survey, Halifax said.

More than nine in 10 (97%) residents there report good or fairly good health and it has the longest average female life expectancy in the UK of 86.7 years, and the third longest for males (82.5 years), the report found.

Hart residents enjoy 32.5 hours per week of sunshine, against the national average of 29.7 hours.

Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: "Hart seems to have been offering residents an unrivalled mix of living standards for five of the last six years, seeing employment rates, average earnings and ONS personal wellbeing rankings bounce back after falling from the top spot last year.

(Image: Birmingham Post and Mail)

"Along with Hart, many areas in southern England score strongly in categories including the labour markets and health.

"Northern areas tend to perform well on education and benefit from more affordable properties with lower house prices to earnings."

Here are the top 50 places with the best quality of life in the UK in 2017, as ranked by Halifax:

Hart, South East Orkney Islands, Scotland Rutland, East Midlands Wychavon, West Midlands Winchester, South East Wokingham, South East Waverley, South East Craven, Yorkshire and the Humber Richmondshire, Yorkshire and the Humber Stratford-on-Avon, West Midlands Uttlesford, East of England Ryedale, Yorkshire and the Humber Westminster, London South Oxfordshire, South East St Albans, East of England Tonbridge and Malling, South East East Hertfordshire, East of England City of London, London Chiltern, South East Rugby, West Midlands Selby, Yorkshire and the Humber St Edmundsbury, East of England Mole Valley, South East Suffolk Coastal, East of England Purbeck, South West Harrogate, Yorkshire and the Humber Hambleton, Yorkshire and the Humber West Oxfordshire, South East Lichfield, West Midlands Harborough, East Midlands Monmouthshire, Wales Eden, North West Mid Sussex, South East South Cambridgeshire, East of England Richmond upon Thames, London Tewkesbury, South West Windsor and Maidenhead, South East Chelmsford, East of England Chichester, South East Babergh, East of England Kensington and Chelsea, London Woking, South East Maldon, East of England Wycombe, South East Cotswold, South West Aylesbury Vale, South East Wiltshire, South West Stroud, South West Test Valley, South East Lewes, South East

Areas with the best quality of life regionally:

1. South East, Hart

2. East Midlands, Rutland

3. East of England, Uttlesford

4. West Midlands, Wychavon

5. London, Westminster

6. South West, Purbeck

7. Yorkshire and the Humber, Craven

8. Wales, Monmouthshire

9. Scotland, Orkneys

10. North West, Eden

11. Northern Ireland, North Down and Ards