Luton was ranked 247th out of 405 UK local authorities in Halifax bank’s latest annual quality of life survey.
Factors used to measure quality of life include everything from average weekly earning – which in Luton is £535 – to levels of employment, and even hours of sunshine per week.
The town scored poorly on things like employment which is at 67.8 per cent, and crime, with 82.2 burglaries per 10,000 – the tenth highest of the local authorities listed. The UK average is 37 per 10,000.
A Beds Police spokesperson said the reduction of burglary throughout Beds remains a force priority and has reduced by 16 per cent over the past year. They run a number of operations to tackle burglary throughout the year particularly in areas of high incidence such as Luton.
In Hart, Hampshire, the place with the highest quality of life according to Halifax, there are just 16.6 burglaries per 10,000, and people earn an average of £830 a week. Cllr Hazel Simmons, leader of Luton council, said: “We recognise Luton has its challenges and the council is committed to improving the quality of life for residents, despite the severe financial challenges we are facing.
“We would like to remind residents that the Government has invested more than £80million in the Luton Dunstable Busway to tackle congestion and improve the town centre environment. We also have funds to upgrade M1 Junction 10a and improve access to employment and regeneration sites in south Luton.”
Luton has a population density of 4,697 per square km, compared to 436 in Hart, and traffic flow of 18,910 per square km compared to 6211 in Hart. Watford is the busiest town for traffic though with 54,119 per square km.
Resident Ben Martin said: “Luton will always be a cesspit while the council, Hazel Simmons especially, keep telling us “Everything is fine and there are no problems.” The life expectancy for males in the town is 77.7 years, and 92.1 per cent of the population are in ‘fairly good’ health. Luton gets an average of 30.3 hours of sunshine per week, compared to the sunniest place in the UK, the Isle of Wight, where locals see 37.4 hours.
Resident Steven Manfredi said: “I find that all these surveys telling me how bad Luton is affects my quality of life in Luton by annoying me.”