RightMove happy at home list ranks Monmouth seventh

Monmouth ranked seventh in the annual happy at home list put together by property listing website RightMove.

The list was topped by the Northumberland town of Hexham, followed by Richmond-upon-Thames in second, and Harrogate, in Yorkshire and the Humber, at third.

The index, now in its 10th year, asked more than 21,000 people across Britain how they feel about various aspects of where they live.

Happiness measures include friendliness and community spirit, whether people feel they can be themselves, nature and green spaces, opportunities locally to develop skills and amenities including schools, restaurants, shops and sports facilities.

Llandrindod Wells in Powys was ranked as Wales’ happiest place to live, coming in fifth on the UK-wide list, with Monmouth in second.

According to the list, the average house price in Monmouth is £312,649, while the average rent is £929 per month. In Llandrindod Wells, the average house price is £193,601, and the average rent is £445 per month.

Although Newport and Caerphilly both ranked in the top ten happiest places to live in Wales – at ninth and tenth respectively – they were much further down the UK-wide list, at 203rd and 206th respectively.

Rightmove’s study also found that people living in coastal villages tended to be the happiest group in the study.

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Around a third of this year’s top 20 happiest towns are market towns, it added.

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted many people to move home in order to make lifestyle changes.

The study found that more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of people who had moved in the last year relocated to a different area. Nearly two-thirds of these people (64 per cent) reported feeling happier where they now live.

Eight in 10 (81 per cent) of those who had moved from a town to a village said they now feel happier with where they live.

Rightmove predicts 1.5 million house sales will have taken place this year.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “It’s been an incredibly busy year in the housing market, with a lot of people deciding that now is the right time to move.”

Here are the happiest places in Britain, according to Rightmove, with the average asking price for a home and the average monthly asking rental price:

1. Hexham, North East, £297,088, £842;
2. Richmond-upon-Thames, London, £1,196,892, £3,235;
3. Harrogate, Yorkshire and the Humber, £353,624, £1,163;
4. Hove, South East, £525,906, £1,879;
5. Llandrindod Wells, Wales, £193,601, £445;
6. Stirling, Scotland, £191,226, £877;
7. Monmouth, Wales, £312,649, £929;
8. St Ives, South West, £494,393, £1,150;
9. Anglesey, Wales, £278,391, £776;
10. Leamington Spa, West Midlands, £350,981, £1,203;
11. Perth, Scotland, £167,160, £679;
12. Hitchin, East of England, £491,223, £1,392;
13. Woodbridge, East of England, £427,542, £1,129;
14. Kendal, North West, £258,961, £837;
15. Macclesfield, North West, £277,772, £981;
16. Exeter, South West, £303,215, £1,234;
17. Salisbury, South West, £318,806, £1,090;
18. Horsham, South East, £433,892, £1,433;
19. St Albans, East of England, £632,320, £1,888;
20. Guildford, South East, £542,947, £1,913.

And here are Wales’s top 10 happiest places to live with the overall rankings across Britain in brackets:

1. Llandrindod Wells (five);
2. Monmouth (seven);
3. Anglesey (nine);
4. Llandudno (58);
5. Bridgend (62);
6. Cardiff (82);
7. Wrexham (99);
8. Swansea (122);
9. City of Newport (203);
10. Caerphilly (206).