Best rural places to raise a family in Britain

You may dream of bucolic bliss, but what about the rest of your family? Thankfully, there are plenty of rural hotspots in the UK that mean you can all enjoy the rural idyll… here’s the top 5

It may be your long-held dream to swap city life for country living, but what about the impact it has on your family? If you’ve got young children, you may be looking for security or a good primary school and nursery while for those with teenagers, superfast broadband and access to town and clubs may be more important.

In a recent survey by Halifax, the UK’s top rural places to live were scored according to criteria such as age expectancy, happiness, education and employment. In the top 10, three locations were in Yorkshire and The Humber, three in the Midlands and three in the South East. Here are the top five rural locations in the UK:

 Orkney Islands, Scotland:

This archipelago at the top of Scotland was voted best rural place to live for the second year running. Factors such as low anxiety levels, crime rate and primary school class sizes along with consistently high scores in life satisfaction and happiness make it a top rural spot for families. It has high employment rates and the highest average spend per pupil on education in the UK.

Rutland, East Midlands:

Up from 19^th place to second place is England’s smallest county where residents have some of the biggest homes in the UK with an average of 6.4 habitable rooms.

But it’s not just house size that appeals – nine out of ten homes have superfast broadband and school performance in the area is the highest in England with 71% of pupils achieving five or more grade A*-C at GCSE.

Wychavon, Worcestershire:

This picturesque spot scored highly for personal well-being and high male and female life expectancy at 81.2 and 84.5 years respectively. Around 95% of locals also report themselves to be in good health.

Winchester, South East:

This pretty market town shows that it is possible to live the rural dream while retaining proximity to London. Winchester is also home to the largest proportion of adults who have the highest qualifications – ie. a degree, NVQ Level 4 and above or professional qualification.

Waverley, South East:

Also scoring highly for the number of adults who have the highest qualifications. Residents here also enjoy the highest weekly average earnings at £921 per week compared to the UK average of £655.