No surprise as report praises our local living

HUDDERSFIELD people say they are not surprised that their town has been voted the seventh best place in Britain to live.

Yesterday the Examiner revealed that a survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland ranked the town one of the best in the country for living the high life on a budget.

The bank’s Affordable Affluence Index weighed up the presence of positive ‘lifestyle indicators’, including upmarket restaurants, bars, museums, galleries, gyms and top-performing state schools.

The presence of ‘negative factors’, such as fast food chains, value supermarkets and betting shops were also weighed up to give each location an ‘affluence’ score.

Property affordability was also worked out to determine the overall position of each location.

Huddersfield was praised as an attractive place to live because of the many planned developments for the town, its stunning Victorian architecture, diverse shops and good transport links.

And people in Huddersfield agree that their town is the place to be.

The average price of a house in Huddersfield now costs just £131,000 and says estate agent Karl Beaumont, of Boultons, cheaper property prices are just one of many attractive features causing people to flock to the town.

“It’s a very nice, clean place to live,’’ he said. “The open countryside and good schools appeal to a lot of people and the university is attracting a lot of young people to the town.

“The town has very good transport links and a lot of people working in places such as Leeds and Manchester find it an ideal place to commute to work from.”

Clr Robert Light, leader of Kirklees Council, said he was delighted with the results of the survey.

He said: “It’s a good result, not just for Huddersfield, but for the whole of the borough.

“It shows that the council’s commitment to improving the town is making a real impact on people’s lives.

“Huddersfield is a vibrant place and our big events – like the Festival of Light – really up the feel good factor among people.

“We have good schools, which play a critical part in attracting people to the area.

“Huddersfield also appeals because it has got a big city feel in a town. It has many of the features you would expect with a big city, but with all the benefits of being a town.

“That’s our uniqueness; we are not trying to compete with places like Leeds and Manchester but we try to complement them.”

The Rev Catherine Ogle, Vicar of Huddersfield, said: “The town is such a wonderful place to live.

“It appeals because there is a lot going on. There’s lots of music, theatre and sports and the university has contributed a great deal to the town.

“Huddersfield has the benefit of offering a lot of the diverse choice that the cities have, while still being small enough to have an identity.”