Skipton in North Yorkshire has been crowned the happiest place to live in Great Britain for the first time in Rightmove’s 14^th annual Happy at Home Index.

Thousands of residents across over 200 areas in Great Britain told Rightmove how they feel about their area, from the friendliness of the people to the access to employment opportunities. The study also asked residents to share how happy they feel about where they live.

This year, Skipton tops the list of happiest areas, having come second in 2020 and sixth in last year’s study. Residents of Skipton ranked the market town highest for its access to nature and green spaces, the friendliness of the people, and access to essential services like schools and doctors.

Residents also ranked Skipton highly for feeling they can be themselves there, and the affordability of the area, feeling that they earned enough to live comfortably in Skipton. The town was ranked less highly for its access to employment opportunities and desirable jobs, and residents living nearby to friends and family.

The average asking price for a home in Skipton is £326,093, which is lower than the current national average of £364,833. It also has the second lowest price tag within the top ten happiest areas this year.

In second place in this year’s study is the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames in London. Residents of Richmond also ranked it highly for its access to nature and essential local services, as well as non-essential amenities such as restaurants and shops.

In third place is Camden, with the North London borough taking a podium spot for the first time in the 14-year history of the study. Stirling has been ranked the happiest place to live in Scotland by its residents, and Anglesey is this year’s happiest place to live in Wales.

Looking more broadly at this year’s results, on average residents in the South West are the happiest with where they live, and those in the East Midlands are least happy. However, the margins are small, and overall more people across Great Britain are happy than unhappy with where they live.

Of those that think they’d be happier living in a different area, the South West is the most popular destination to want to move to.

As well as the various societal factors which make someone feel happy with where they live, trends emerged around the type of location that is most likely to make someone feel happy.

Those who lived in a rural location were more likely to say they felt happy where they lived than urban and suburban dwellers. Riverside, woodland or coastal locations were also more likely to have happy residents.

The study also revealed that residents who live close to a national park, or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are happier on average than those who don’t.

The study highlighted how being happy with where you live tends to increase with age. Residents aged 18-24 were the least likely to say they felt happy where they live. Happiness then increases through the age brackets, with those aged 65 and over the most likely to feel happy where they live.

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert said: “Each year our study celebrates all the different things that make us feel happy with where we live – our neighbours, green spaces, having access to important services. A lot more goes into choosing an area to live other than the home itself.

“Being within easy reach of nature and green spaces regularly comes out as an important factor for people, along with having friendly neighbours and feeling you can truly be yourself where you live. It’s great to see the town of Skipton getting the attention it deserves this year having ranked highly in previous studies.”