A great place to live and work

Our district is regularly voted one of the best places in the UK for quality of life

Where is Hart?

You’ll find us in north-east Hampshire close to the borders with Surrey and Berkshire. We have excellent rail links to London (35 miles from Fleet) and Basingstoke (12 miles), with interconnections to other parts of the UK. The M3 passes through Hart and you can access it easily from junctions 4, 4a and 5.

There are many parks and green open spaces to visit and enjoy, and much of the land is rural. Our thriving towns and villages offer a mix of residential, retail and business development, with excellent facilities for sport and leisure.

Quality of life and health

All this helps to make Hart one of the best places to live in the UK. You don’t need to take our word for it – we’ve been near or top of the Halifax Quality of Life Survey on several occasions.

In 2020, we were placed third in the top 50 local authorities in the UK. We scored highly on general health and happiness and on life expectancy. Men could expect to live an average of 82.5 years (three years above the national average) and women to 85 (two years above the national average).

People who live here also reported high levels of satisfaction with life – 8.2 out of 10 on average, compared to 7.8 for the UK in general. Employment levels were also significantly higher for Hart at 87.2%, compared to 75% for the rest of the country.

In data from the 2021 census, 54.8% of people reported being in 'very good health'. This placed Hart in the top 20% for local authority areas across the UK.

Councillor David Neighbour, Leader of Hart District Council, said: “It’s wonderful to see that residents consistently rate Hart as one of the best places to live in the country.  We are proud of our thriving local economy, clean, green and safe environment, and high life expectancy which contribute to our excellent health and happiness scores.

“As a Council, we are committed to delivering the best services we can for our community and continue to ensure Hart remains a great place to live and work.”