DORSET did not feature in this year’s happiest places to live, according to a new nationwide survey.
Each year, property website Rightmove asks customers to tell them about where they live, asking what they love about their local areas, and what makes a place really feel like home.
Now in its 11th year, more than 21,000 people responded in towns, cities and villages up and down the nation.
Residents score their local areas on things like community spirit, and how much access they have to nature and green spaces, as well as artistic and cultural activities.
This year’s study is set against a backdrop of rising cost-of-living concerns, and a sense of belonging is what people valued most among the survey’s happiness measures.
“Our Happy at Home survey really shows that the things that make people happy to live in their area are not so much the physical aspects of that area but more the personal aspects, such as our sense of belonging, the community and the people,” says property expert Tim Bannister, from Rightmove.
“The last few months have undoubtedly been difficult for many, and as we learned during another difficult period in 2020, this is often when we look to our local area and community for support and happiness.”
So, which locations in Great Britain have been voted the happiest by the people that live in them?

Cirencester also on the list for the south west

Here is the full top 10 of happiest places in 2022, according to the latest Rightmove survey.
1. St Ives – South West
2. Galashiels – Scotland
3. Woodbridge – East of England
4. Hexham – North East
5. Perth – Scotland
6. Harrogate – Yorkshire and The Humber
7. Anglesey – Wales
8. Bury St Edmunds – East of England
9. Stirling – Scotland
10. Cirencester – South West