North Yorkshire holidays

Friendly town: Harrogate won out overall after scoring on safety, recreation and the friendliness of neighbours

The survey by property website Rightmove found Northerners were generally happier about where they lived than those in the South.

Nine of the ten unhappiest places were in Greater London.

East London was given the lowest scores, followed by Croydon, east central London and Ilford.

Dudley in the West Midlands was the only area outside London to appear in the bottom ten of the site’s ‘Happy At Home’ Index.

Lincoln was the most house-proud town, while Hereford was safest. Swansea residents were the happiest in Wales, and Aberdeen came top of the list in Scotland.

Picturesque: West Park stray in Harrogate - the town has a population of around 75, 000

Stunning: Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate

Harrogate won out overall after scoring on safety, recreation and the friendliness of neighbours.

Average asking prices for houses in the town are up 5.6 per cent year on year, outperforming the national average of 1.2 per cent.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: ‘Harrogate’s position demonstrates the complex web of factors that makes for a happy place to live.

‘As a nation obsessed with property, our homes represent far more than simple bricks and mortar.

‘What elevates a house to a home is an often complicated relationship of the physical property itself, the emotional sense of well-being it provides and how safe and socially rooted we feel.’

Mr Shipside believes London scores poorly because living space is at a premium in the capital, and as a result of safety fears.

He said: ‘Among reasons why London was marked down are topics that may be considered as sacrifices when living in a major city, such as the amount of space to live comfortably and safety.’

Nice: Stockport was the second happiest town in the UK according to the poll. Pictured are Memorial Gardens in Marple