Rightmove's happiest places to live: The 9 happiest East Midlands towns and cities to live in 2024 revealed

They say happiness is a place called home, but according to research by Rightmove you’ll have a happier home if you live in certain destinations.

The online property portal has issued its latest Happy at Home study with the help of 35,000 respondents from across the country.

The study, now in its 13th year, asked residents how they feel about a number of factors in their area

For the whole of the London borough of Richmond upon Thames was crowned the happiest place to live by those that live there. It’s the first time an area in the capital has taken the top spot. The city of Winchester in Hampshire came second and Monmouth in Wales was third.

Nowhere in the West Midlands ranked in the top ten spots but Stratford-upon-Avon landed in an impressive 13th position. But Rightmove has also drilled down to list the happiest places across each UK region.

Rightmove has explained how they pulled the study together, saying: “The results of this year’s study showed that the most important contributors to happiness were feeling a sense of pride, belonging and community. 

“Access to green space and nature is also important to residents, with those living in a rural area near a national park, or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, more likely to feel happy where they live.”

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Location trends

This year, residents of areas in Scotland, Wales and the South West said they were happiest with where they live overall, while those in the East and West Midlands said they were the least happy.

Just over a third (34%) of people said they thought they’d be happier living somewhere else. These residents were most likely to live in the West Midlands, and they were most likely to want to move to the South West.

Gen-Z (18-24 year olds) were the most likely to say that they thought they’d be happier living in a different area, while those aged 55+ were the least likely, suggesting we become more content with our surroundings as we get older or secure our forever home.

For anyone looking to be happier where they live, the type of environment that made residents the happiest was a rural location by a woodland or forest, and also near a National Park or National Landscape, formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

East Midlands

Here are the East Midlands top 9, then where the area scored nationally

1. Chesterfield 63
2. Nottingham 130
3. Derby 133
4. Northampton 142
5. Lincoln 145
6. Loughborough 155
7. Leicester 159
8. Kettering 173
9. Mansfield 188

West Midlands

Here are the West Midlands top 18, then where the area scored nationally

1. Stratford on Avon 13
2. Leamington Spa 21
3. Lichfield 27
4. Sutton Coldfield 36
5. Worcester 58
6. Telford 72
7. Hereford 86
8. Stourbridge 93
9. Shrewsbury 103
10. Stafford 118
11. Tamworth 122
12. Solihull 138
13. Coventry 189
14. Wolverhampton 192
15. Stoke on Trent 202
16. Birmingham 211
17. Walsall 215
18. Dudley 217

Residents expressed opinions on topics such as how proud they feeI about where they live, their sense of belonging, community spirit, whether they can be themselves, whether they can earn enough to live comfortably in their area, public transport, sports and recreation, green spaces and artistic and cultural activities.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “It’s the younger generation who are most likely to say they would be happier living somewhere else, many of whom have to travel to cities for education or to find their first jobs.”

The research also indicated that the type of environment that made residents most happy was a rural location by woodland or a forest, or being near a National Park or National Landscape.

Rightmove’s analysis found that feeling proud to live in an area was the biggest driver of overall satisfaction with a home and community out of the factors it looked at, while living near to family and friends was the smallest driver.

Here are the happiest places to live in 2024, according to Rightmove, followed by the average asking price for a home and the average asking rent per month:

1. Woodbridge, East of England, £441,569, £1,478

2. Richmond upon Thames, London, £939,329, £3,131

3. Hexham, North East, £313,147, £840

4. Monmouth, Wales, £320,974, £1,335

5. Harrogate, Yorkshire and the Humber, £394,312, £1,439

6. Skipton, Yorkshire and the Humber, £263,479, £1,030

7. Sevenoaks, South East, £881,061, £2,924

8. Leigh on Sea, East of England, £465,542, £1,796

9. Cirencester, South West, £384,013, £1,495

10. Wokingham, South East, £590,949, £2,120

11. Winchester, South East, £578,760, £2,069

12. Stirling, Scotland, £214,441, £1,227

13. Stratford-upon- Avon, West Midlands, £413,115, £1,604

14. Horsham, South East, £458,641, £1,983

15. Kendal, North West, £285,645, £966

16. Kensington and Chelsea, London, £1,667,573, £5,345

17. Chorley, North West, £197,199, £883

18. Hove, South East, £555,193, £1,993

19. Wandsworth, London, £865,205, £3,159

20. Hitchin, East of England, £510,612, £1,730

And here are the other regional rankings in the study, with the regional position followed by the overall ranking across Britain in brackets:

East of England

1. Woodbridge (1)

2. Leigh on Sea (8)

3. Hitchin (20)

4. St Albans (50)

5. Clacton on Sea (52)

London

1. Richmond upon Thames (2)

2. Kensington and Chelsea (16)

3. Wandsworth (19)

4. Westminster (24)

5. Southwark (46)

North East

1. Hexham (3)

2. Newcastle upon Tyne (59)

3. Darlington (90)

4. Sunderland (143)

5. Durham (150)

North West

1. Kendal (15)

2. Chorley (17)

3. Altrincham (29)

4. Chester (34)

5. Macclesfield (49)

Scotland

1. Stirling (12)

2. Dumfries (35)

3. Perth (39)

4. Galashiels (45)

5. Dundee (47)

South East

1. Sevenoaks (7)

2. Wokingham (10)

3. Winchester (11)

4. Horsham (14)

5. Hove (18)

South West

1. Cirencester (9)

2. St Ives (23)

3. Dorchester (26)

4. Weymouth (33)

5. Cheltenham (43)

1. Monmouth (4)

2. Llandudno (22)

3. New Quay (28)

4. Llandrindod Wells (38)

5. Anglesey (48)

1. Harrogate (5)

2. Skipton (6)

3. Whitby (25)

4. York (30)

5. Leeds (70)