If you’re planning to start a family, you’d better stock up on jumpers and wellies - because the best place to bring up kids is northern Scotland.
Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are the top three places thanks to school spending per pupil, high employment and a lack of traffic jams, according to a Halifax survey
It comes after a separate study found the happiest Brits lived in affordable areas close to natural beauty spots.
Martin Ellis, a Halifax economist, said: “Children in these areas of Scotland benefit from low primary school class sizes, low pupil to teacher ratio in secondary schools, excellent exam results and some of the highest school spend per pupil.”
At £138,003, Scottish house prices are nearly a third of the price of those in London and half the price of those in the South East.
We spotted a family house with three bedrooms on Zoopla for £80,000 on the Orkney isle of Rousay, and a four-bed for the same price on the isle of Stronsay.
Like Scotland - but warmer
Parents in the south shouldn’t despair - the fourth best place was Winchester, in the South East of England.
Other South East areas making it into the top 20 include Surrey Heath, Chichester and Tonbridge and Malling.
Northern kids are more likely to be happy, though - Eden in the North West came fifth in the study, followed by Craven and Ryedale in Yorkshire and the Humber.
Ellis said: “The best places outside Scotland are where children are brought up in an environment of high employment and where adults rate their personal wellbeing as high – which bodes well for their upbringing."
What counts as quality of life?
The Halifax researchers looked at housing, jobs and traffic when deciding the best quality of life. If one’s more important than other, check out the best place to move below:
JOBS
The employment rate in Orkney is 89.3%, compared to 74% in the UK overall.
HOUSING
Uttlesford (East England), Chiltern (South East), Rutland (East Midlands) and South Bucks (South East) typically have 6.4 rooms in each house, compared to a UK average of 5.4 rooms.
NO TRAFFIC JAM
The Western Isles of Scotland has just 69 cars per kilometre, compared to 9,459 in the UK as a whole.
GENERAL HAPPINESS
Brits living in Fylde in the North West reported personal wellbeing of 6.9, compared to a UK average of 6.4.