It’s official Buckinghamshire is a worse place to live than two years ago

That’s the verdict of a detailed index which ranked the county as the 44th best place to live in the UK, a major drop on just two years ago.

The uSwitch Best Places to Live in The UK Quality of Life Index assessed 138 UK regions for 26 different lifestyle factors including working hours, life expectancy, hours of sunshine, food and energy bills, disposable income and more.

And Bucks has dropped 33 places to 44th in the overall table from its ranking in the last study back in 2013.

Former index leaders Solihull is now second place behind Edinburgh which has rocketed 97 places from 2013 to the number one spot in 2015.

Neighbouring Hertfordshire is ranked third, the same ranking it achieved in 2013.

Down in 138th place and ranked the worst place to live in the UK was the region of Bradford, Yorkshire and The Humber.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, said the report reveals ‘vast differences in the quality of life that many people across the UK are experiencing’.

She said: “Despite a buoyant UK economy, millions of people in this country aren’t feeling the benefits. We shouldn’t kid ourselves that it’s getting better for everyone out there.

“The reality is that millions of British households are still facing huge financial pressures, with wages barely covering higher living costs. And with talk of interest rates rising, any hope that those financial pressures might ease seems a forlorn one.

“It’s more important than ever that households take an honest look at their household budgets and see if there are savings that can be made. Simply by switching energy suppliers on a regular basis, hundreds of pounds could be shaved off the annual bill. Our quality of life is important and even minor changes could have a positive impact on our standard of living.”

More to life than rankings

While there is more to life than rankings, stats and figures, uSwitch said it’s Qualify of Life Index ‘aims to highlight the vast differences in the experiences of people across the country’.

For more about the study’s methodology, read the full press release

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