Happiest place to live 2020: Richmond upon Thames takes top London spot for sixth consecutive year

The riverside spot is London's happiest place to live, but the 10th happiest in Britain — coming in behind picturesque towns like St Ives in Cornwall and Skipton in North Yorkshire.
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The south-west London borough of Richmond upon Thames has been named the happiest place to live in the capital for the sixth consecutive year.

With its tree-lined streets, period homes and riverside pubs, living in Richmond comes at a cost: average house prices are £869,864, well beyond the average London house price which now stands at £630,634.

Less popular with renters, average monthly rents for a two-bedroom property in the area are around £1,879 — significantly below the London average of £2,130 a month.

Offering a green compromise between more central areas and rural countryside, with Kew to the north and Putney to the east, Richmond is best known for the wide open spaces of Richmond Park — the largest of the capital's Royal Parks — and the hundreds of red and fallow deer that roam there.

Just behind Richmond on the list of London locations where people feel happiest are Kensington and Chelsea, the capital's most expensive borough; Kingston upon Thames, Richmond's slightly cheaper southern neighbour; the north east's Waltham Forest, which is currently experiencing a "mini-boom"; and south-east London's Bromley, of which two thirds is green space.

The annual Rightmove study polls over 21,000 people across the UK, and today's release reveals more than half of those looking to buy or rent in the next year now place greater importance on access to nature when deciding on location and property.

"Lockdown has enabled people to rediscover what’s on their doorstep, and spending more time in their local areas has made people value their surroundings and communities so much more," said Tim Bannister of Rightmove.

"This year’s study shows a greater appreciation for green spaces and nature, and a strong correlation between people living in coastal and rural areas and how happy people are where they live."

Top coastal locations for homebuyers

Five of the top 20 locations are coastal areas this year, with the idyllic seaside town of St Ives on the West Cornwall Peninsula revealed as the happiest place to live in Great Britain.

With its world-famous surf beaches, arty crowd and laid-back vibe, making it popular with homebuyers and holidaymakers alike — so popular the council banned newly built houses from being sold as second homes back in 2016, in an attempt to help local buyers get a foot on the ladder.

The port town has an average house price of £413,414 and average rents of £719 a month for a two-bedroom home.

Mayor Tony Harris said: "This news comes as no surprise to me, nor the local residents, as we all know St Ives is a great place to live."

"Our natural and built environments have always been held to be amongst the very best in the UK and it is of course a pleasure to live in such magnificent surroundings every day."

Skipton in North Yorkshire and Leamington Spa in Warwickshire take second and third places on the list of top locations.

"We’re the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales and some of the most spectacular places in the country," said Jacob Taylor of Dacre, Son & Hartley agents in Skipton.

“Neighbours are always happy to stop and chat and nothing is ever too much trouble. People travel far and wide to visit Skipton and this year residents have reminded themselves why."

Other coastal locations to make the top 20 are Falmouth, Weymouth, Plymouth, and Poole – all in the south west of England.

London commuter towns

Popular London commuter locations which have come out top for happiness include Tonbridge, Guildford and Winchester in the south-east of England; and Bishop's Stortford, St. Albans and Hitchin in the east.

Bishop's Stortford, a market town beside the River Stort, has trains to Liverpool Street that take less than 40 minutes; typical properties range from semi-detached houses to large Victorian and Edwardian villas.

Last year, around half of all sales in the Hertfordshire cathedral city of St Albans were to London first timers, drawn by 21-minute train links to St Pancras International.

Tonbridge is considered the best value of Kent's big three commuter towns — compared with nearby Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks.

Trains from Tonbridge station take about 45 minutes, travelling to either Cannon Street or Charing Cross; while, in Surrey, trains from the pretty commuter town of Guildford take from around 35 minutes to London Waterloo.

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