Richmond upon Thames tops Britain’s happiest places survey

Richmond upon Thames has topped Rightmove’s annual survey of Britain’s happiest places to live, with residents rating the south-west London borough highly for green space, local services, shops and restaurants. The result comes with a steep housing price: the average asking price for a home there is more than £1m, according to the BBC.

Harrogate in North Yorkshire placed second and Cirencester in Gloucestershire third. Monmouth was highest in Wales, while Kirkcaldy took the top spot in Scotland.

Richmond returned to first place after winning in 2023 and finishing second last year. The survey also found that 81% of participants across Britain said they were happy with where they lived.

Rightmove said Richmond scored well for access to nature, essential services, employment opportunities and residents’ pride in their area. Mayor Nancy Baldwin said the recognition was meaningful because residents had highlighted local services, parks and community pride.

The survey was sent by email to people in Rightmove’s database, making it self-selecting. Its results reflect the views of those who chose to take part, rather than a representative sample of everyone in Britain.