Where are the happiest places to live in the UK?
Leigh-on-Sea, a seaside resort in Essex, has been named as the happiest place to live in the UK in a new survey.
In the report conducted by property website Rightmove, another seaside town, Troon in Scotland, came second. Harrogate in North Yorkshire slipped to third place, having been top of the pile for the last three years.
Spirit
The study of 24,000 people across Britain asked residents to rank their local area against twelve factors. These ranged from friendliness of neighbours to the quality of local amenities.
Leigh-on-Sea took the top spot for a range of features, such as community spirit and a sense of belonging.
Residents of the town said that there are a number of things to do, such as sports and arts activities. What’s more, the spiralling property prices seen in London has driven many tenants further out of the city.
There has been a 15% increase in asking prices in Leigh-on-Sea during the last year, with the average price of a home here now standing at £384,439.
According to the Rightmove report, the top-ten happiest places to live in the country are:
- Leigh
- Troon
- Harrogate
- Hertford
- Lytham St Annes
- Shepperton
- Stanford-Le-Hope
- Shrewsbury
- Hitchin
- Woodbridge
Where are the happiest places to live in the UK?
Seaside dreams
Abiola Oni, Rightmove’s research manager, observed, ‘it seems the saying that we do like to be beside the seaside is true, whether you’re down in the East of England or up in Scotland.’[1]
‘Obviously, what happy means to different people can vary greatly, but when you compare the factors which score highest in the happiest areas, it shows just how important having friendly people in the local community area is, alongside the services and amenities, which is something buyers often tell us when they are looking in new areas to live,’ he continued.[1]
Oni added that, ‘space is also one of the most important things when people are looking for a new home, so it’s not surprising that places with open spaces such as beautiful parks and beaches have featured in the to
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-3741240/Leigh-Sea-Essex-coast-happiest-place-live-UK.html