Rightmove plc

11/24/2021 | News release | Archived content

Where is the happiest place to live near you?

What makes you the happiest about living in your area? Is it how friendly your neighbours are, a sense of belonging, or perhaps it's having your favourite pub on the doorstep or a park nearby?

For this year's annual Happy at Home Index, now in its 10th year, we asked more than 21,000 residents to tell us how they feel about where they live, as well as ranking 10 happiness factors.

We can now reveal the happiest places to live in each region of Great Britain, from Scotland to the South West, so you can find out which area has taken the top spot where you live.

You can take a look at the full results of our Happy at Home Index here

Check out the top 20 Happiest Places to Live in 2021

The happiest places to live in every region of Britain

The Northumberland market town of Hexham, in the North East, has been crowned the happiest place to live in Britain, regaining the top spot which it last held back in 2019. Residents of historic Hexham were found to be the happiest, based on factors including the friendliness of their neighbours, its sense of belonging, the quality of the town's local amenities, and its access to open space.

Second place is the riverside London area of Richmond upon Thames, which for the seventh consecutive year has also taken the top spot as the happiest place to live in the capital.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the popular spa town of Harrogate is the top spot in the region and in third place overall, after featuring highly among the happiest places to live for many years, and ranking first for three consecutive years from 2013-2015.

The seafront enclave of Hove is the top spot in the South East region, and ranked in fourth place nationally.

Llandrindod Wells, fifth place overall, is the happiest place to live in Wales, while Stirling is this year's happiest place to live in Scotland.

Take a look at the happiest place in every region below:

Region Happiest Place in the region National Rank
North East Hexham 1
London Richmond upon Thames 2
Yorkshire & the Humber Harrogate 3
South East Hove 4
Wales Llandrindod Wells 5
Scotland Stirling 6
South West St. Ives 8
West Midlands Leamington Spa 10
East of England Hitchin 12
North West Kendal 14
East Midlands Chesterfield 68

Looking at the overall results and rankings of happiest areas across Britain, our property expert Tim Bannister said: "Last year's lockdown periods continue to have an impact on our priorities and what makes us happy, which is one of the reasons why community and a sense of belonging continue to be so important to people this year.

"Last year redefined the importance and role of our home and local community in our lives, and this has carried on into this year, even as wider society has started to open up again."

READ MORE: View the full results of our Happy at Home Index and take a look at the top 20 Happiest Places to Live in 2021

The header image for this article is provided courtesy of Verity Frearson, Harrogate