Happy days: Richmond crowned happiest London borough for third year running
But in a surprise move, Hackney in north-east London comes out of the shade and into the sunny uplands as this year’s number four.
And while Richmond and Hackney residents have been enjoying their feel-good factor, it appears other boroughs have not been giving their residents nearly as much love as they’ve been used to.
FALLEN ANGELS
Bottom of the list was Brent in north-west London.
THE HOT NEW THINGS
In the new Rightmove top five for 2017, Bromley is number two followed by Camden, Hackney, and Waltham Forest.
The winning borough, Richmond, is rich of course and it always helps in the happiness stakes to have well-heeled residents.
However, the survey also finds people like their borough to posses a sense of place, to enjoy a good stream of new investment, and offer enough affordable homes to give young people a chance to buy a place of their own.
WHAT MAKES A WINNER?
Rightmove’s research manager Abiola Oni and her team quizzed 17,000 people to find the UK’s happiest places, and says: “The connection between the 12 factors and the overall happiness levels actually suggests that money is less important than feeling you fit in with the other people in an area.”
Oni adds that living in a neighbourhood with a lot of well-designed regeneration and a variety of leisure-time activities on the doorstep plays a part in people’s overall contentment levels.
In Bromley, regeneration has been rapid since the council launched its town centre area action plan in 2011.
The £94 million regeneration of St Mark’s Square — a public-private development involving the council and U+I — will deliver a multiplex cinema, restaurants, a 130-bed Premier Inn hotel, and 200 private and affordable apartments, with a two-bedroom flat costing £515,000. The scheme is due for completion next spring.
In Camden, where average property prices sit at an eye-watering £1,071,316, residents felt safest and were happy with local attractions such as its famous markets, shops, restaurants and music venues that attract more than 150,000 people a week.
The town is also undergoing various regeneration projects. One of these is Camden Lock Village, a project being delivered by Mace, which will feature eight new buildings of between three and nine storeys with 195 homes, a food quarter, a canalside market, cafés and restaurants.
Hackney, ranked at number 22 in 2015, has thrown off its historic down-at-heel image to rise to fourth place in the Rightmove chart. It is now a mecca for hi-tech businesses clustered around Shoreditch, particularly at Old Street Roundabout, while Hoxton has become a hotspot for restaurants and bars.
“Hackney house prices have been rising a lot faster than other boroughs over the past year — average prices are £669,519 — so it’s likely that investment in areas around the Hackney borough has added to how happy people are feeling,” says Oni.
Residents surveyed rated Hackney top for sports and recreational activities, opportunities to develop skills, and art and cultural activities.
As part of ongoing development plans in fifth-placed Waltham Forest, the council aims to build 12,000 homes by 2020, while improving town centres with new schools, leisure centres and infrastructure.
Lea Bridge station reopened in May last year with trains to Stratford. Two months later, house builder Hill won permission for a £100 million mixed-use scheme in Lea Bridge Road. Providing 300 new homes, 62 affordable, the project will have 21,000sq ft of commercial space. Prices will be released next month.
The Hill development is just the start of a total renaissance of the area in creating a new place. Three thousand new homes within a quarter of a mile of the new station are already planned.
But overall, Richmond basks in the sunlight of happiness. Nick Alderman, partner, residential development for Knight Frank, says: “It takes time for mindsets to change, and Richmond has been established for so long. To knock it off its perch would be difficult.”
Trying to explain the demise of the likes of Kingston and Havering, the latter’s council leader, Roger Ramsey, says: “Happiness depends on many factors, not always within the council’s control.”
However, the good news is that if new homes are a factor, his borough has an extensive 30-year regeneration project. Channelling his inner Monty Python, Ramsey adds: “In Havering we always try to look on the bright side of life.”
RICHMOND CELEBRATES
So what gives Richmond residents that warm and fuzzy feeling? In its Happy at Home study, Rightmove based happiness on 12 key factors.
Important among these were how safe people feel in their local area, the friendliness of their neighbours and the quality of local services.
With an abundance of green spaces — including Richmond Park with its famous herds of deer — plus great transport links, picturesque river views, thoughtful neighbours, good restaurants and fabulous pubs and shops, Richmond was always going to score highly across the board out of the capital’s 32 boroughs.
There has not been much new-build development in this attractive borough. However, Richmond has reworked many of its historic buildings, creating smart new apartments.
“Boutique schemes include Richmond Brewery, with prices starting from £1.5 million for a two-bedroom apartment,” says Daniel Hutchins, head of sales at Savills in Richmond.
“It’s an early 20th-century red-brick building that was also once a toy factory and a Royal British Legion poppy factory and now comprises seven duplex apartments with views across the Thames.”