Wealden named the most peaceful place in the South East

A new study by SAM Conveyancing scored every local authority in England and Wales on four measures to decide how ‘genuinely peaceful it’s to live in’ including: how quiet it is at night, crime levels, how much publicly accessible green space residents have, and how close homes are to nightlife venues such as pubs, bars and clubs.

Taking first place is Wealden in East Sussex, with a peace score of 85.5 out of 100 and fifth place nationally.

Its recorded crime rate of 41.1 offences per 1,000 residents is the seventh lowest in England and Wales, little more than half the national median of 71.1, and only 0.23% of its residents live beside a cluster of licensed premises – the fourth lowest share of the 316 areas ranked, so a closing-time crowd is something almost nobody in the district lives with.

The South East is the largest region in the study and one of the strongest: 15 of its 64 authorities finish in the national top 50 and 29 in the top 100.

Nationally, more than half the population of England and Wales – some 33 million people – live in homes exposed to night-time noise from roads or railways above the WHO's 40 decibel guideline, and 5.2 million are exposed to noise above 55 decibels.

Horsham completes the regional top five on 80.1 out of 100 and 19th nationally, with the seventh lowest crime rate in the South East.