The region misses out in happy league

WE’RE known as a happy and friendly lot here in the North East.

But someone seems to have forgotten to tell property website Rightmove.

Newcastle missed out on the top 10 in its survey to find the happiest place in Britain, despite coming top or near the top in similar lists.

The Toon managed to come only 21st in the survey.

Leamington Spa was first, followed be Leigh on Sea and the Wirral, while Harrogate, a previous winner, was fourth.

Rightmove looked for friendly neighbours, a strong sense of belonging, a place where locals feel they can be themselves, and good access to nature and green spaces.

Rightmove’s research manager Abiola Oni said: “We’ve looked at the connection between each of the factors and what contributes to how happy people say they are overall, and it’s the people in an area and how someone feels about living there that makes the biggest difference.

“So the strength of community spirit and people feeling like they belong and that they can be themselves are more important than the services and money that they have, though these do still contribute to overall happiness.”

The rest of the top 10 are Tunbridge Wells, Kings Lynn, Epsom, Richmond on Thames, Poole and Chichester.

The survey results suggest happiness is linked to wealth.

Home buyers will typically be expected to pay a premium of around £20,000 to live in the top 10 happiest places

Newcastle is the happiest place to live in the North East, according to the survey – but how did the rest of the North East fare?

Cleveland was named the second happiest place to live in the North East, and came 31st nationally.

Durham could only make 109th nationally and third in the North East despite the attraction of the castle and cathedral.

Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Darlington were only placed at 129th, 138th and 149th.

The survey does not tally with many others which praise Newcastle and the wider North East. In May, MoneySuperMarket voted Newcastle the best place to raise a family. The city was ranked top for good schools, a low crime rate and low house prices. The North East was also named the area where people were most likely to speak to their neighbours in a Government poll.