Which town is the happiest place to live in Great Britain? After nearly 50,000 people were asked to rank how happy they feel in their #homes and communities the winning #town has been announced as..... .....#Harrogate! Once again the spa town in North Yorkshire comes top overall out of 111 places, and ranks first for safety, neighbourliness and recreation. People can find out how happy the #residents of their area are by using the Happy at Home microsite available at: rightmove.co.uk/news/happy-at-home. Not so ‘grim up North’ after all The top ten happiest places are scattered across #GreatBritain, with Inverness in Scotland taking the runner up spot and Taunton in Somerset flying the flag for the South West at number three. The bottom ten are all within #GreaterLondon, with #EastLondon coming bottom out of the 111 places! Happy at Home Index explained People were asked to rank 12 distinct factors about their #homelife to assess how happy, or not, they are with the towns and communities that they call home. The people of #Croydon voted their own community the most unsafe place to live, and we don’t fancy your chances of getting a friendly cup of sugar from #EastLondoners, who come bottom for neighbourliness. Kirkcaldy in Fife comes first for space, easy to see why when you can buy a 6 bedroom #detachedhouse with eight acres of land for less than £800,000. #WestCentralLondon comes bottom, where you would be stretched to get a #onebedroomflat for the same price. The people of Preston feel most #houseproud and the people of Telford are happiest with the #décor in their home. Surprisingly, East #London ranks lowest for décor, perhaps because #residents don’t feel they’ve quite managed to mirror the trendy trademark stamped on the area within their own homes. Nottingham #homeowners are least likely to be worried about the value of their home, compared to Hereford where they worry the most. Matthew James, Head of Communications at #Rightmove comments: “Ask someone if they are happy where they live and you rarely get a short answer. That’s because our overall sense of happiness with where we live is tied up in a range of different things, from how we rate our #localamenities to how safe we feel walking the streets and how happy we are with our neighbours. What we’ve done is ask people to rate their own area on the 12 most important of these factors and created a model that crunches this data to give us an overall ‘happiness’ league table. And there should be no arguments with the results as there can be no better panel of judges than a towns’ own residents! This is the third time that we have produced our Happy at Home Index and the second time that Harrogate has topped the pile, fending off stiff competition from Inverness and Taunton. Its combination of neighbourliness, safety and sense of community make it an attractive place to live and it wouldn’t be a surprise if we now see a surge of search activity on Rightmove from #buyers looking for homes in Harrogate, where the #averageaskingprice of a #property is £309,133, just over £37,000 higher than the national average.” Quotes from Harrogate Councillor Michael Newby, the Mayor of the Harrogate Borough said: “Harrogate offers a wonderful environment for residents. With a thriving arts and culture scene, as well as many sporting opportunities, there is always a lot to do. There are restaurants, cafes and bars to cater for virtually every taste, and a retail sector second to none. The district has some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK, if not in Europe and beyond. There is also a great community feel which certainly make life a lot happier for many people. Director of #residentialsales and #letting agency, Linley & Simpson, Will Linley, has lived in Harrogate all his life. He said: For many, the town will always be associated with Agatha Christie and her disappearance but for those of us who have spent our lives here, there is no real mystery to why it is again the UKs happiest. Harrogate has a strong community feel and sense of belonging and people here have a good quality of life, with low unemployment, low crime rates, a sought-after range of schools from which to choose and an abundance of green space in the heart of the town as well as on its rural outskirts.” Paul Baxter, Area Manager from Harrogate #estateagent Dacre Son & Hartley says: “Having operated in the spa town for almost 40 years, we have first-hand experience of Harrogate’s popularity and can definitely understand why its residents have voted it the happiest place to live in the UK. The town’s nationally recognised eateries, high-end shops, cultural offerings and outstanding schools all combine to make life here incredibly attractive. Property is at a premium with prices exceeding the national average and this summer even more people will be sampling all that Harrogate has to offer as Le Tour De France races through its attractive streets.” Wallace Sampson, Harrogate Borough Council’s Chief Executive said: “It is fantastic to have topped the ‘Happy at Home’ Index for the second year running and confirms what we already know, that Harrogate is a fantastic place to live. The town is nestled in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, we have a wonderful #senseofcommunity with residents taking great pride in where they live, and the amenities and recreational opportunities on offer means that you never have to venture far from your doorstep to find all that you need.” Sibh Megson from Visit Harrogate said: “If you love great food, wonderful shopping and fantastic entertainment Harrogate really is the place to be. Within minutes you can be out into the stunning Yorkshire Dales countryside – it is no wonder the area has been chosen to host the Tour de France Grand Depart. With this spectacular sporting event almost upon us, soon even more visitors from around the world will be able to experience our friendly hospitality and discover why Harrogate is such a happy place to live.” The Index The 12 measures which contribute to the overall level of happiness we feel with where we live cover a broad range of factors and are divided into three categories: your property, your home and your community. Responses for each of the 12 measures are averaged to provide both a category score and an overall score – the ‘Happy at Home Index’. In total 47,463 people responded to Rightmove’s #HappyAtHome Index survey.
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 11:03:24 +0000
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