Rightmove has released its annual Happy at Home Index, showing that three locations in the South West have made the top 20 of this year’s list.
The index is 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.
St Ives, Exeter and Salisbury have all landed on the list, which was topped by Hexham in the North East.
Read more: The Somerset town named a hotspot for home-sellers in Britain
St Ives made it to eighth on the list, with an average property asking price of £494,393, while Exeter came in at sixteenth and Salisbury seventeenth.
Rightmove has compiled the index, which more than 21,000 people contributed to, using ten factors, which they say contribute to the overall level of happiness residents feel in their homes and community.
These cover a broad range of factors, from how you feel about living in an area, to how happy people are with local activities and amenities.
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This year, Rightmove found that the most important factors people look for in a neighbourhood are a sense of belonging, how friendly the locals are, and “being able to be yourself”.
The study showed that people who live in villages are “more likely” to be happy than those living in town, while those residing by the sea are the happiest of all.
Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said: “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.”
Mr Bannister continued: “There have been many records broken in the housing market this year, but what perhaps gives us the biggest insight into people’s behaviour and mindset, is that on the whole, moving home is making people happier.
“Whether it may be a couple looking for a small change in the same area, tenants looking for more space, or a family completely changing their lifestyle and moving from the city to the coast, this has been the year that people have really seized the opportunity to move, and in many cases turned their dreams into a reality.”
The top 20 happiest places to live in 2021, with the average asking price, according to Rightmove:
1. Hexham, North East – £297,088
2. Richmond upon Thames, Greater London – £1,196,892
3. Harrogate, Yorks & Humber – £353,624
4. Hove, South East – £525,906
5. Llandrindod Wells, Wales – £193,601
6. Stirling, Scotland – £191,226
7. Monmouth, Wales – £312,649
8. St. Ives, South West – £494,393
9. Anglesey, Wales – £278,391
10, Leamington Spa, West Midlands – £350,981
11. Perth, Scotland – £167,160
12. Hitchin, East of England – £491,223
13. Woodbridge, East of England – £427,542
14. Kendal, North West – £258,961
15. Macclesfield, North West – £277,772
16. Exeter, South West – £303,215
17. Salisbury, South West – £318,806
18. Horsham, South East – £433,892
19. St. Albans, East of England – £632,320
20. Guildford, South East – £542,947
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