According to a recent survey, the Cornish seaside town of St Ives was recently revealed to be the happiest place to live in Britain.
The town of St Ives managed to successfully overtake the town of Hexham in Northumberland, which had previously topped the list in 2019 and 2021.
St Ives has secured this year’s top spot in the “Happy at Home” index, which was conducted by real estate company Rightmove.
This win also marks a return to form for the town of St Ives, which came first in the index in 2020.
The Happy at Home index – a survey ranked on many various factors
The “Happy at Home” index asks more than 21,000 people across Britain how they feel about where they live.
The survey ranks locations mentioned on various factors such as community spirit, proximity to green spaces, and quality of local amenities. Rightmove’s director of property science, Tim Bannister, spoke on the matter.
He said, “This year’s Happy at Home survey really shows that the things that make people happy to live in their area are not so much the physical aspects of that area but more the personal aspects, such as our sense of belonging, the community and the people.
“The last few months have undoubtedly been difficult for many, and as we learned during another difficult period in 2020, this is often when we look to our local area and community for support and happiness”.
The happiest places to live in Britain – the best places in Britain to call home
Another interesting statistic that stood out from the survey was that approximately a third of this year’s top 20 areas were all market towns, which suggests that these areas tend to make for great places to live in.
The top ten happiest places to live in the UK according to the findings of the “Happy at Home” index were as follows.
St Ives (South West), Galashiels (Scotland), Woodbridge (East of England), Hexham (North East), Perth (Scotland), Harrogate (Yorkshire and the Humber), Anglesey, (Wales), Bury St Edmunds, (East of England), Stirling, (Scotland) and Cirencester, (South West).
What makes St Ives so special? – a variety of important things
St Ives secured its impressive first-place position thanks to a variety of important things. For example, it scored highly for its sense of community spirit, the sense of belonging that residents feel and the overall comfort that residents of St Ives feel in being themselves.
However, for those wishing to move to St Ive’s, there is some bad news: the average house price in St Ives has risen by 6% from £492,870 to £523,731, which is higher than the average asking price for a house across Britain of £366,999.
