Online property portal Rightmove recently revealed the results of their 11th Happy at Home study which outlined the top 10 happiest places to live in Great Britain – with three places in Scotland making the list.
Every year Rightmove ask people in the UK to tell them how they feel about where they live. They ask people what they love about their local areas, and what makes a place really feel like home.
In their 2022 survey, they asked over 21,000 people living in towns, cities and villages up and down the nation to score their local areas on things like community spirit, and how much access they have to nature and green spaces, as well as artistic and cultural activities.
The 2022 study was set against a backdrop of rising cost-of-living concerns, and a sense of belonging is what people valued most among the survey’s happiness measures.
The locations that made the top ten happiest places to live list were:
1. St Ives, Cornwall – South West
2. Galashiels, Scottish Borders - Scotland
3. Woodbridge, Suffolk – East of England
4. Hexham, Northumberland – North East
5. Perth, Perth & Kinross – Scotland
6. Harrogate, North Yorkshire - Yorkshire and The Humber
7. Anglesey - Wales
8. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk - East of England
9. Stirling, Stirling - Scotland
10. Cirencester, Gloucestershire - South West
Also named winner back in 2020, St Ives in Cornwall took the top spot overall in 2022. St Ives residents scored the town highly for community spirit, how comfortable residents feel to be themselves, and the sense of belonging they have.
Ranked the happiest place to live in Scotland, the Scottish Borders town of Galashiels scored so highly for the friendliness and politeness of its locals.
It also has the most affordable house prices out of all the areas that made the top ten, with the average asking price of a home in Galashiels standing at £153,546.
Rightmove’s property expert, Tim Bannister, said: “Our Happy at Home survey really shows that the things that make people happy to live in their area are not so much the physical aspects of that area but more the personal aspects, such as our sense of belonging, the community and the people.”
“The last few months have undoubtedly been difficult for many, and as we learned during another difficult period in 2020, this is often when we look to our local area and community for support and happiness,” he added.
To view the full results of Rightmove’s Happy at Home Study 2022 visit: www.rightmove.co.uk/news/happy-at-home
Sources:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/happy-at-home-survey-2022/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/happy-at-home/
