Richmond upon Thames is first of 221 places in Rightmove's 2026 Happy at Home Index, ahead of Harrogate and Cirencester. It also topped the index in 2023.
Richmond upon Thames has been named the happiest place to live in Great Britain by its own residents, for the second time in four years. The borough is first of 221 places in Rightmove’s Happy at Home Index for 2026, published on Wednesday.
Harrogate in North Yorkshire is second. Cirencester in Gloucestershire is third.
The top ten
Rightmove publishes the full ranking region by region. Put together, the ten happiest places in Great Britain this year are:
| Rank | Place | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames | Greater London |
| 2 | Harrogate | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| 3 | Cirencester | South West |
| 4 | Monmouth | Wales |
| 5 | Hove | South East |
| 6 | Chorley | North West |
| 7 | Skipton | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| 8 | Llandrindod Wells | Wales |
| 9 | Horsham | South East |
| 10 | Hexham | North East |
Source: Rightmove’s regional tables for Greater London and the other ten regions on the same page.
Top three four years running
Rightmove has run the index every year since 2012. Its own announcements show Richmond’s record over the last four:
- 2023: first. Richmond was the first London area ever to top the index.
- 2024: second, behind Woodbridge in Suffolk.
- 2025: second, behind Skipton in North Yorkshire.
- 2026: first again.
Skipton, last year’s winner, is seventh this time.
How the neighbours did
Richmond is also first of the 33 London areas Rightmove ranks. Two other boroughs make the national top 15: Kensington and Chelsea is 12th and Kingston upon Thames 13th.
Most of Richmond’s neighbours sit much further down:
| Borough | National rank (of 221) |
|---|---|
| Richmond upon Thames | 1 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 13 |
| Wandsworth | 53 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 70 |
| Hounslow | 207 |
Barking and Dagenham is last of all 221 places.
What residents were asked
The index is a survey of residents about the place they live. When Richmond won in 2023, Rightmove said it measured how people felt about their area across 13 happiness factors, and that more than 26,000 people had taken part.
So far Rightmove has published only the 2026 rankings. It has not yet put out this year’s scores, the number of people who answered, or which factors lifted Richmond to the top.
Earlier years give a clue. In 2023, residents scored the borough highly for:
- a sense of belonging to the area
- feeling comfortable to be themselves
- access to nature and green spaces, with Richmond Park and Bushy Park both in the borough
Last year, when Richmond came second, residents rated it well for access to nature, essential local services, and restaurants and shops.
What it means for you
The ranking reflects how residents feel about where they live. It is not an official measure of wellbeing, and it says nothing about what homes cost or how easy they are to find.
It does say people here are unusually content with their area, and have been for four years in a row. That covers the whole borough, from Barnes and Kew to Twickenham, Teddington and Hampton.
If Rightmove publishes the detailed 2026 results, we will add what they show about Richmond to this page.
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