A leafy neighbourhood has been singled out as one of the best places to live in the UK based on seven key factors. Fleet, a commuter town in Hampshire less than 40 minutes from London, is a sought after location for people working in the capital but keen to enjoy the picturesque, serene surroundings of the home counties.
But according to analysis by The Telegraph of the Government’s latest deprivation index, one neighbourhood stands out, as statistics suggest it’s the least deprived place in England. The metric provides a ranking of areas across the nation based on seven types or “domains” of deprivation.
These include income, health, crime, jobs, schools, as well as access to local services and the living environment.
Fleet South and Pondtail in Fleet, which sits within Hampshire’s Hart District, was found to rank top based on these metrics ahead of more than 6,800 pockets of the country.
According to the newspaper, the neighbourhood has particularly strong scores in terms of health and income, the two metrics that are most heavily weighted.
Health measures “the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health”, while income calculates the “proportion of the population in an area experiencing deprivation relating to low income”, the The English Indices of Deprivation 2025 report explains.
According to the outlet, Fleet South and Pondtail is also among the top 100 areas in England for low levels of crime, as well as education and high levels of employment, with high averages across the metrics the government identifies as important benchmarks.
It notes that its high ranking doesn’t mean that people living in the area have the highest salaries but very few are suffering deprivation related to their income.
The neighbourhood is home to Fleet Pond Nature Reserve, the county’s largest freshwater lake, which is surrounded by quaint villages and adored by locals for its friendly community spirit.
The town has two schools with “good” Ofsted ratings, Calthorpe Park and Court Moor state secondary schools, The Telegraph notes.
Fleet Railway Station (FLE), which is served by South Western Railway (SWR), also offers direct links to Waterloo, making it a prime location for commuters.
According to Rightmove, house prices in the town have an overall average of £496,632 over the last year, making it well above average nationally, but substantially lower than London, where the same average is £665,201.
The majority of properties sold in Fleet during the last year were detached, which sold for an average of £731,850.
Meanwhile, flats were snapped up for an average of £226,190, and semi-detached properties went for £484,757 on average.
