The happiest place in Britain? Harrogate: Residents from North Yorkshire town are most satisfied with where they live

The town is famous for its 'healing' mineral waters

Stockport, Ipswich and Exeter were also popular places to live

Northerners found to be happier than those in the south generally

Nine of the ten unhappiest places are in Greater London



Maybe there is something in the water, because Harrogate has been named the happiest place in Britain.

Residents of the North Yorkshire spa town are the most satisfied with where they live, a study has found.

Researchers asked nearly 40,000 homeowners how they felt about the safety and neighbourliness of their area and the size and condition of their property, among 12 measurements of happiness.

The town famous for ‘healing’ mineral waters came top, followed by Stockport, Ipswich and Exeter.

Happy: Residents of North Yorkshire spa town Harrogate are the most satisfied with where they live, a study has found

Friendly town: Harrogate won out overall after scoring on safety, recreation and the friendliness of neighbours

The survey by property website Rightmove found Northerners were generally happier about where they lived than those in the South.

Nine of the ten unhappiest places were in Greater London.

East London was given the lowest scores, followed by Croydon, east central London and Ilford.

Dudley in the West Midlands was the only area outside London to appear in the bottom ten of the site’s ‘Happy At Home’ Index.

Lincoln was the most house-proud town, while Hereford was safest. Swansea residents were the happiest in Wales, and Aberdeen came top of the list in Scotland.



Picturesque: West Park stray in Harrogate - the town has a population of around 75,000

Stunning: Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate

Harrogate won out overall after scoring on safety, recreation and the friendliness of neighbours.

Average asking prices for houses in the town are up 5.6 per cent year on year, outperforming the national average of 1.2 per cent.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: ‘Harrogate’s position demonstrates the complex web of factors that makes for a happy place to live.

‘As a nation obsessed with property, our homes represent far more than simple bricks and mortar.

‘What elevates a house to a home is an often complicated relationship of the physical property itself, the emotional sense of well-being it provides and how safe and socially rooted we feel.’

Mr Shipside believes London scores poorly because living space is at a premium in the capital, and as a result of safety fears.



He said: ‘Among reasons why London was marked down are topics that may be considered as sacrifices when living in a major city, such as the amount of space to live comfortably and safety.’

