A London borough has been named Britain’s happiest place to live, reclaiming the title after previously taking first place in 2023.
Residents of the area were more likely than those elsewhere to say they were happy with where they lived, according to Rightmove’s latest Happy at Home Index.
That result placed the borough at the top of the property website’s 221-location ranking, which is listed in full below from the happiest to the least content.
Six of the ten locations at the bottom of the table were London boroughs, while the remainder were towns in the West Midlands, East and South East.
More than 24,000 people across Britain took part in the survey, assessing their communities on factors including access to nature and green space, local services, amenities and employment prospects.
Winner: Richmond upon Thames has been named Britain’s happiest place to live
Richmond upon Thames, the affluent south-west London borough, came first after scoring strongly for its parks, shops and restaurants, job opportunities, local services and residents’ pride in the area.
Councillor Nancy Baldwin, Mayor of Richmond upon Thames, said: ‘This recognition is especially meaningful because residents highlighted their pride in the local area, beautiful parks and green spaces, and the local services they rely on every day.’
Nikki Slater, a director at estate agent N&N Richmond, told This is Money: ‘It’s beautiful, sociable and somewhat improbable. Richmond combines extraordinary natural beauty – a beguiling sweep of The Thames and the splendour of Richmond Park – with all the advantages of having London on its doorstep.
‘There are moments when it feels like living in the country, except you can still get a decent flat white at five o’clock on a Sunday.’
That combination comes at a price, however, and prospective buyers need substantial funds to purchase a home in Richmond upon Thames.
Rightmove said the average asking price stood at £1.02million last month, while typical monthly rent reached £3,298.
The borough has more than 500 hectares of green space, including Kew Gardens and Bushy Park.
It is also home to Hampton Court Palace and provided filming locations for the hit Netflix series Ted Lasso.
Other happy places in Britain
Tempting: Harrogate was ranked Britain’s second-happiest place to live
Harrogate, in Yorkshire and the Humber, secured second place in Rightmove’s ranking.
The North Yorkshire spa town scored particularly well for access to nature and green spaces, as well as residents’ agreement with the statement: ‘I can be myself.’
Harrogate is known for its busy tea rooms, well-preserved Victorian architecture and historic spa heritage.
The town is famed for its ‘healing’ mineral waters and is home to one of Britain’s last fully operational Victorian Turkish baths.
It previously held the top spot in the happiest places to live ranking for three consecutive years.
Property prices in Harrogate are considerably lower than those in Richmond upon Thames.
Average asking prices reached £395,776 last month, while tenants paid around £1,750 a month to rent – £1,548 less than the typical cost in Richmond upon Thames.
Cirencester was Britain’s third-happiest place to live, with residents giving the Gloucestershire town high marks. As the largest settlement in the Cotswolds, it is recognised for its striking architecture and independent retailers.
Visitors can also explore the Roman Cirencester Amphitheatre on the edge of the town.
Average asking prices stood at £407,368 last month, while renting cost an average of £1,633 per month.
Monmouth in Wales ranked fourth in this year’s list of Britain’s happiest places to live.
The town is known for picturesque streets lined with independent shops, cafés and restaurants. It is also home to Monmouth Castle, the birthplace of King Henry V.
Its location near the Wye Valley makes it an attractive base for people who enjoy the outdoors.
Average asking prices were around £366,782, while the typical monthly rent was £1,395 in October.
Hove, on the south-east coast, took fifth place. Located next to Brighton, it is known for its elegant squares, sweeping crescents and leafy communal gardens along the seafront.
The average asking price for a property in Hove was £476,115 last month, making it one of the more expensive locations on the list. Average monthly rent was £2,086.
Chorley, Skipton, Llandrindod Wells, Horsham and Hexham also appeared in the top ten happiest locations in Britain.
Skipton, which was named Britain’s happiest place to live last year, fell to seventh place in the latest ranking.
The gloomiest places to live in Britain
At the opposite end of the table, residents of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London were the least satisfied with where they lived.
The borough was ranked Britain’s unhappiest location and also occupied last place in the 2025 rankings.
Barking and Dagenham recorded an overall crime rate of 81 offences per 1,000 people in 2026, slightly below the London average.
However, in March 2025 it had the capital’s highest robbery rate, with 116 offences reported and a rate of 0.48 per 1,000 daytime population.
Earlier this year, the borough was also identified as England’s most unfriendly town in a study by the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, which used data from the Government’s Community Life Survey.
The Office for National Statistics said the average asking price for a home in Barking and Dagenham was £370,000 in August 2026.
Walsall in the West Midlands was ranked Britain’s second-least happy place to live, based on residents’ responses to the Rightmove survey.
Earlier this year, it was named Britain’s worst town for quality of life, with one local comparing it to living in a ‘real-life episode of Shameless’.
Lewisham in Greater London came third from the bottom, followed by Slough, Havering, Clacton-on-Sea, Harrow, Rochester, Croydon, Brent and Rotherham.
Across the surveyed locations, people living in Greater London were the most likely to say they were unhappy with their area.
Rightmove compiled the findings after asking more than 24,000 people in 221 locations how satisfied they were with where they lived.
Across Britain, 81 per cent of respondents said they were happy with their area, compared with 9 per cent who said they were unhappy.
Residents in the South West of England were the most content overall.