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UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 WEDNESDAY 21ST MAY
Happy? You are if you’re in Harrogate:
Yorkshire town crowned happiest place to live in Great
Britain

Harrogate claims top spot in the Rightmove Happy at Home Index for the second year running,
with high scores for safety and neighbourliness helping it win the crown

Inverness and Taunton rank second and third, while London boroughs make up the bottom ten

The Happy at Home Index asks residents to rate their local area on 12 distinct factors which are
then combined to describe the ‘overall’ happiness of more than 100 places across the country

Kirkcaldy comes top for space, Nottingham wins for value and Preston is number one for pride
Harrogate has once again been named 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 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 Great Britain, 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 Greater London, with East London coming bottom out of the 111 places.
TOP TEN
Rank
BOTTOM TEN
Place
Region
1
Harrogate
Yorkshire & the Humber
2
Inverness
3
4
Rank
Place
Region
1
East London
London
Scotland
2
Ilford
London
Taunton
South West
3
Croydon
London
Stockport
North West
4
East Central
London
London
5
Falkirk
Scotland
5
Twickenham
London
6
Norwich
East Anglia
6
Enfield
London
7
Hull
Yorkshire & the Humber
7
North London
London
8
Preston
North West
8
Harrow
London
9
Truro
South West
9
South East
London
London
10
Telford
West Midlands
10
West London
London
Happy at Home Index explained
People were asked to rank 12 distinct factors about their home life 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 East
Londoners, who come bottom for neighbourliness.
Kirkcaldy in Fife comes first for space, easy to see why when you look at this 6 bedroom detached house
with eight acres of land that you can buy for less than £800,000. West Central London comes bottom,
where you would be stretched to get a one bed flat for the same price.
The people of Preston feel most house-proud 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.
THE TWELVE FACTORS*
TOP
BOTTOM
Décor
Telford
East London
Space
Kirkcaldy
West Central London
Contentment
Hereford
Bolton
Value
Nottingham
Hereford
Investment
Blackburn
East Central London
Wellbeing
Falkirk
Ilford
Pride
Preston
North London
Costs
Telford
Shrewsbury
Safety
Harrogate
Croydon
Amenities
West Central London
Swansea
Recreation
Harrogate
Croydon
Neighbourliness
Harrogate
East London
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 local amenities 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 average asking price 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 residential sales 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 UK's 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 estate agent 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 sense of community 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 Happy At Home Index survey.
Regional rankings
Yorkshire
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Harrogate
1st
1st
Hull
7th
2nd
Halifax
11th
3rd
Huddersfield
16th
4th
York
25th
5th
Wakefield
62nd
6th
Sheffield
74th
7th
Leeds
79th
8th
Doncaster
88th
9th
Bradford
98th
10th
North West
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Stockport
4th
1st
Preston
8th
2nd
Chester
17th
3rd
Lancaster
20th
4th
Crewe
27th
5th
Warrington
36th
6th
Blackburn
43rd
7th
Carlisle
61st
8th
Liverpool
76th
9th
Bolton
85th
10th
Oldham
87th
11th
Manchester
91st
12th
Blackpool
93rd
13th
Wigan
97th
14th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Norwich
6th
1st
Ipswich
35th
2nd
Colchester
50th
3rd
Peterborough
58th
4th
Cambridge
59th
5th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Taunton
3rd
1st
Truro
9th
2nd
Bournemouth
14th
3rd
Dorchester
18th
4th
East Anglia
South West
Swindon
21st
5th
Bath
28th
6th
Exeter
38th
7th
Bristol
40th
8th
Salisbury
65th
9th
Plymouth
75th
10th
Gloucester
77th
11th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
St. Albans
12th
1st
Guildford
13th
2nd
Tonbridge
15th
3rd
Canterbury
22nd
4th
Milton Keynes
26th
5th
Portsmouth
30th
6th
Brighton
34th
7th
Oxford
44th
8th
Watford
45th
9th
Southampton
46th
10th
Hemel Hempstead
48th
11th
Reading
49th
12th
Redhill
52nd
13th
Slough
56th
14th
Chelmsford
70th
15th
Stevenage
89th
16th
Luton
90th
17th
Southend on Sea
94th
18th
Dartford
96th
19th
Rochester
101st
20th
South East
Greater London
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Bromley
60th
1st
Kingston upon Thames
69th
2nd
West Central London
81st
3rd
Romford
82nd
4th
Sutton
83rd
5th
South West London
95th
6th
North West London
99th
7th
West London
102nd
8th
South East London
103rd
9th
Harrow
104th
10th
North London
105th
11th
Enfield
106th
12th
Twickenham
107th
13th
East Central London
108th
14th
Croydon
109th
15th
Ilford
110th
16th
East London
111st
17th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Telford
10th
1st
Worcester
23rd
2nd
Shrewsbury
29th
3rd
Hereford
33rd
4th
Birmingham
66th
5th
Dudley
67th
6th
Stoke-on-Trent
68th
7th
Walsall
71st
8th
Coventry
73rd
9th
West Midlands
Wolverhampton
100th
10th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Llandrindod Wells
19th
1st
Newport
42nd
2nd
Llandudno
47th
3rd
Cardiff
54th
4th
Swansea
86th
5th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Durham
31st
1st
Middlesbrough
39th
2nd
Darlington
51st
3rd
Newcastle
63rd
4th
Cleveland
72nd
5th
Sunderland
84th
6th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Lincoln
32nd
1st
Derby
37th
2nd
Nottingham
55th
3rd
Leicester
57th
4th
Town / City
National ranking
Regional ranking
Inverness
2nd
1st
Falkirk
5th
2nd
Kirkcaldy
24th
3rd
Wales
North East
East Midlands
Scotland
Kilmarnock
41st
4th
Glasgow
53rd
5th
Aberdeen
64th
6th
Edinburgh
78th
7th
Dundee
80th
8th
Paisley
92nd
9th
—ENDS—
For further information please contact Amy Funston on 0207 087 0605 or
email amy.funston@rightmove.co.uk.
* The statements used for each of the 12 factors were as follows:
Décor
Space
Contentment
Value
Investment
Wellbeing
Pride
Costs
Safety
Amenities
Recreation
Neighbourliness
On the whole, the décor and furnishings in my home are to my liking
I have enough living space to live comfortably
I don’t think I would be happier moving to a different property
I do not worry about the value of my property
I regularly choose to spend money on my home even if I don’t have to
Generally, I feel relaxed when I am at home
I feel proud of my home
The cost of running my home rarely causes me to feel anxious
I rarely feel unsafe in the community in which I live
The local amenities are satisfactory compared to other areas I know
I enjoy spending time in the area in which I live
Generally, the people who live in my area are friendly and polite
10 busiest websites in UK by Page Views – Experian Hitwise
February 2014
1
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2
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About Rightmove:

Rightmove.co.uk is the UK’s largest property web site, advertising around 90% of all homes for sale
via estate agents across the UK (Rightmove is not an online estate agent)

At any one time, there are over one million properties for sale or rent on Rightmove, worth around
£270 billion

People in the UK can search for residential resale, new homes, rentals, commercial and overseas
properties on Rightmove

Tools and information people can access on the site include sold prices, property valuation, market
trends, maps, nearby schools, Street View and floor plans

The Rightmove app is available for iPhone, iPad, Android (including Kindle) and Windows Phone or
people can use the mobile site compatible with all smartphone handsets

For customers, the service is directed at four key membership groups: estate agents, lettings agents,
new homes developers and overseas home agents

All eight corporate estate agents (those with 100 or more branches) list their properties on the site
Rightmove history:

Rightmove.co.uk was started in 2000 by the top four corporate estate agencies at the time:
Countrywide, Connells, Halifax and Royal and Sun Alliance

The first Rightmove House Price Index was published in 2002, and comes out on the third Monday of
every month. The Index is compiled from asking prices of properties as they come on the market via
Rightmove's member estate agents over the previous month

In 2006, Rightmove floated on the London Stock Exchange and became a member of the FTSE 250