Historic and charming Hampshire city crowned one of the happiest places to live in the South East in prestigious list
Winchester has been crowned as one of the happiest place to live in the South East in a new list published by Rightmove.
The historic city has been placed in 18th place in Rightmove’s 2025 “happy at home” index, finishing forth in the South East region behind Maidenhead (14th), Horsham (15th), and Tonbridge (17th). Nationally, Skipton in North Yorkshire took the top spot.
More than 19,500 people took part in Rightmove’s 2025 happy at home survey, which was self-selecting. Rightmove sent the survey to people across Britain who had opted in to receive its communications.
Looking more broadly at this year’s results, on average residents in the South West are the happiest with where they live, and those in the East Midlands are least happy, Rightmove said.
But it added the margins are small, and overall more people across Britain are happy than unhappy with where they live. Of those who believe they would be happier living in a different area, the South West of England is the most popular destination to want to move to.
People who live in a rural location are more likely to say they feel happy where they lived than urban and suburban dwellers. Riverside, woodland or coastal locations are also more likely to have happy residents.
The study also revealed residents who live close to a national park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are typically happier than people who do not.
The study also indicated being happy with where you live tends to increase with age, perhaps partly because people tend to have bigger housing budgets as they grow older. Residents aged 18 to 24 are the least likely to be satisfied with where they live and people aged 65 and over are the most likely to feel happy about where they live.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “Each year our study celebrates all the different things that make us feel happy with where we live – our neighbours, green spaces, having access to important services.
“A lot more goes into choosing an area to live other than the home itself. Being within easy reach of nature and green spaces regularly comes out as an important factor for people, along with having friendly neighbours and feeling you can truly be yourself where you live.
“It’s great to see the town of Skipton getting the attention it deserves this year having ranked highly in previous studies.”