The UK's most prosperous areas - for health, wealth, education and success, head to richmond upon thames

Richmond upon Thames has been named the UK’s most prosperous area, according to new analysis by Direct Line’s SELECT Premier Insurance (1).

The prosperity study included analysis of career success, health, academic attainment, income levels and property prices throughout the UK and found that Richmond upon Thames scored the highest overall, closely followed by Wandsworth, St Albans and Chiltern.

At the other end of the scale, Blaenau Gwent scored the lowest, followed by Stoke on Trent and Kingston upon Hull.

The UK’s Top 20 Most Prosperous Areas

1. Richmond upon Thames
2. Wandsworth
3. St Albans
4. Chiltern
5. Hammersmith and Fulham
6. Waverley
7. Windsor and Maidenhead
8. South Bucks
9. Westminster
10. Hart
11. Kingston upon Thames
12. Camden
13. Guildford
14. Surrey Heath
15. South Oxfordshire
16. Mole Valley
17. Wokingham
18. Winchester
19. East Hertfordshire
20. Wycombe
     

Looking at individual factors, Hart in Hampshire scored the highest for health, with 88 per cent of its residents enjoying ‘good’ or ‘very good’ health. At the other end of the spectrum was Blaenau Gwent, with a score of 72.5 per cent.

Wandsworth topped the list for education; here 53.6 per cent of residents have a level four qualification (equivalent to a minimum of a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education) or above. Great Yarmouth received the lowest score for education, with 14.2 per cent of residents having achieved this level of qualification or above.

Louise Lumley, head of SELECT Premier Insurance, says: “All too often we make assumptions on wealth based on postcodes. There are numerous other factors that should be considered. Significant levels of wealth and success can be found in areas across the country that you wouldn’t necessarily expect. People may not consider themselves to be particularly wealthy, when in actual fact they are.”

Westminster topped the list for career progression, property prices and income. In this London borough, 19.9 per cent of residents are currently employed as managers, directors or senior figures. This compares to 6.5 per cent in Great Yarmouth, which had the lowest score.

The average property price for Westminster currently stands at £1,383,459 whilst the average property price in Blaenau Gwent – the lowest priced district - is £82,232.

With annual salaries averaging £78,794, residents of Westminster have the highest average income, which is four and a half times the average Blackpool salary of £17,321.

Most Prosperous Regions

Source:  Direct Line’s SELECT Premier Insurance

Lumley concludes: “We often find that households undervalue the contents of their home, particularly if they have accrued wealth without realising its overall worth. It’s easy to underestimate the value of your home contents, so we’d urge people to give full consideration to the true cost of their possessions and ensure they have an insurance policy that will offer sufficient cover.”

Direct Line provides three levels of home insurance cover to suit different needs. Direct Line Home Insurance includes up to £50,000 contents, Direct Line Home Plus includes up to £100,000 and SELECT Premier Insurance from Direct Line includes from £50,000 up to £30m worldwide cover.

ENDS

Notes to editors

[1] Analysis of various data sets undertaken in November 2013.

×           Health, education and employment analysis based upon Census data for England and Wales, 2011 and Census data for Scotland, 2011.

×           Property prices based on Land Registry data for England and Wales and Registers of Scotland Executive Agency, April to June 2013, taken from www.bbc.co.uk

×           Salary data based upon ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2011
 

2 Analysis excludes the following local authorities due to insufficient data available:

×           Kensington and Chelsea

×           Clackmannanshire

×           Elmbridge

×           Hambleton

×           City of London

×           Stockton-on-TeesUA

×           Wealden

For information, the following figures can be disclosed in relation to Kensington and Chelsea, according to data available in November 2013:

Average property price - £1,586,426

% of residents in ‘good’ or ‘very good’ health - 86.3%

% of residents employed as managers, directors or senior figures - 23.3%

% with a level four qualification or above: 52.7%

Lowest scoring areas for overall prosperity

1. Blaenau Gwent
2. Stoke-on-Trent
3. Kingston upon Hull
4. Sandwell
5. Merthyr Tydfil
6. Middlesbrough
7. Barrow-in-Furness
8. Neath Port Talbot
9. Burnley
10. Mansfield
11. Rhondda Cynon Taf
12. Ashfield
13. Sunderland
14. Boston
15. Redcar and Cleveland
16. Knowsley
17. Caerphilly
18. North East Lincolnshire
19. Great Yarmouth
20. Wolverhampton
21. North Lanarkshire
     

For further information please contact:

Claire Foster 
Direct Line
0165 183 1672
07900 217 264

claire.foster@directlinegroup.co.uk

Katie Pugh

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

0207 282 2914

Katie.Pugh@citigatedr.co.uk
 

About SELECT Premier Insurance

Direct Line offers SELECT Premier Insurance to cover homes, cars and valuables of high worth, as well as breakdown cover, pet and travel insurance, all covered under just one policy. When taking out SELECT Premier Insurance, Direct Line will even pay your cancellation charges from your previous policy, making it even easier and affordable to have all your policies under one roof, with one payment plan and one renewal date.

At SELECT Premier Insurance we help you stay in control by offering you a truly personal service. To begin with, one of our accredited insurance advisors will carry out a complimentary individual telephone review with you. Then they’ll give you tailored advice, based on your unique needs, for example, specialist cover for valuables such as fine art and jewellery (without needing to list individual items worth less than £10,000) or for your property portfolio, to ensure you get exactly the right level of cover.

To find out more about what Direct Line SELECT Premier can offer, go to  or go straight through to an expert, not a machine, on 0800 206 2849

Direct Line

Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main channel of communication. It provides motor, home, travel and pet insurance cover direct to customers by phone or on-line.

Direct Line general insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales no 1179980. U K Insurance Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Direct Line and UK Insurance limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc.

Customers can find out more about Direct Line products or get a quote by calling 0845 246 3761 or visiting www.directline.com