This Lancashire town is among the top ten happiest in the UK - and it’s closer than you think
Chorley was named the happiest place in the North West according to Rightmove, and was the only Lancashire town to make the nation’s top ten.
‘Home sweet home’ - one of the most common phrases uttered after a long day out. But residents of this Lancashire town can now be confident that their home may officially be sweeter than the rest.
For the past 15 years, property experts at Rightmove have been quizzing residents on the good, the bad, and the ugly where they live in the UK, with the results collected in their yearly Happy at Home index.
This year, the index polled more than 24,000 people living across a whopping 221 locations in the UK, asking them to rate everything from access to nature to the state of their local services and opportunities.
Overall, 81 per cent of respondents said they were happy with where they live, nine per cent said they were unhappy, and ten per cent were indifferent.
It was all in an effort to find the happiest place to live in the UK - and residents in Chorley seem to be some of the happiest of the bunch.
Previously named on The Times’ Best Place to Live in the UK list, Chorley has skipped its way to the number-one happiest spot in the North West this year.
Ranking at a healthy sixth place out of the top ten, the town was rated particularly highly for its access to nature and green spaces, as well as for the quality of its local services, education, and transport.
The overall view from residents and the index was: “The people are friendly and polite”.
It came just inches below Hove, in East Sussex, and was beat to first place by Richmond upon Thames in London.
According to the index, Chorley was also among one of the cheapest areas to live out of the top ten list.
The average house price was £234,387, and the average rent £1,110.
There were a few other Lancashire spots to make it into this year’s rankings, though Chorley was the only one to make the top ten.
Southport ranked in 31st place nationwide; Blackburn 109th; Lancaster 115th; and Burnley 125th.
Preston and Blackpool both performed the worst out of the entire county, coming in at 139th and 145th respectively.
The full top ten happiest places to live in the UK were named as follows:
- Richmond upon Thames, London
- Harrogate, North Yorkshire
- Cirencester, Gloucestershire
- Monmouth, Wales
- Hove, East Sussex
- Chorley, Lancashire
- Skipton, North Yorkshire
- Llandrindod Wells, Wales
- Horsham, West Sussex
- Hexham, Northumberland
Speaking to the Lancashire Post, Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle said he was “delighted” at this year’s rating.
“The Rightmove Happy at Home index places a spotlight on the fact that Chorley is an outstanding place to live, work and visit,” he said.
“ As someone who was born in Chorley and lived in the borough all my life, it has been my privilege to represent my home town since 1997 and work hard to promote the area, attract investment and ensure we have quality services for local residents.
“We are blessed with beautiful countryside, a traditional market town, an excellent food and drink offer, outstanding schools, and a vibrant local economy and this is reflected in the results of the happy at home index.
“Chorley still has a great sense of community and pride in place and I am sure this will continue in the future.”
A full list of results for the entire country is available here.