Good Broadband Helps Lift Rutland to Top Halifax’s 50 Best Rural Areas

The annual 2015 Halifax Rural Areas Quality of Life Survey has named Rutland in the East Midlands countryside as the best place to live in the Great British countryside because of its “good broadband“, health and life expectancy, crime rate, weather, employment, school results and personal wellbeing.

According to Halifax, some 98% of all households have a good level of broadband access (compared to 87% for Britain as a whole) and indeed the county’s Broadband Delivery UK based roll-out of BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) in the area (Digital Rutland) was also one of the first such projects to effectively complete its initial deployment targets. Gigaclear’s sibling ISP, Rutland Telecom, also covers some of the area with FTTP.

However it’s worth noting that Halifax’s definition of “good” broadband is somewhat on the low side. Essentially it remains defined by any area that can deliver Internet speeds of greater than 2Mbps (Megabits per second), which is perhaps not the same gauge as many ordinary consumers would use. The rest of the top 50 can be found below.

2015 Halifax Quality of Life Rankings – Top 50 Areas
1. Rutland, East Midlands

2. Chiltern, South East

3. Uttlesford, East of England

4. South Northamptonshire, East Midlands

5. Rushcliffe, East Midlands

6. Waverley, South East

7. South Cambridgeshire, East of England

8. Mid Sussex, South East

9. Huntingdonshire, East of England

10. South Oxfordshire, South East

11. Babergh, East of England

12. East Hertfordshire, East of England

13. West Oxfordshire, South East

14. South Kesteven, East Midlands

15. East Cambridgeshire, East of England

16. North Kesteven, East Midlands

17. Aylesbury Vale, South East

18. Tonbridge and Malling, South East

19. Wealden, South East

20. Mid Suffolk, East of England

21. Orkney Islands, Scotland

22. Hambleton, Yorkshire and the Humber

23. Richmondshire, Yorkshire and the Humber

24. Selby, Yorkshire and the Humber

25. Malvern Hills, West Midlands

26. Harborough, East Midlands

27. New Forest, South East

28. Vale of White Horse, South East

29. Wychavon, West Midlands

30. Tewkesbury, South West

31. South Derbyshire, East Midlands

32. St Edmundsbury, East of England

33. Tandridge, South East

34. South Staffordshire, West Midlands

35. South Norfolk, East of England

36. Ryedale, Yorkshire and The Humber

37. Test Valley, South East

38. West Berkshire, South East

39. East Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber

40. Shetland Islands, Scotland

41. Cherwell, South East

42. Suffolk Coastal, East of England

43. Cotswold, South West

44. North Dorset, South West

45. Wiltshire, South West

46. Monmouthshire, Wales

47. East Dorset, South West

48. Newark and Sherwood, East Midlands

49. Aberdeenshire, Scotland

50. Herefordshire, West Midlands