A new survey, carried out by Yopa, has found that people who live in the country are, in general, happier than those who live in the city.
The study found that 31 per cent of people who live in the country consider themselves to be ‘mostly happy,’ compared to just 25 percent of city inhabitants. And 18 per cent of those who live in the city admit to feeling ‘constantly’ stressed.
Those living in the country are happier with their neighbours, less likely to be worried about crime, less likely to be worried about where their kids play, less worried about the quality of their schools and 50 per cent less likely to worry about air quality than people living in the city.
So it’s not surprising that three quarters of people living in cities said they’d jump at the chance of moving out to the sticks. So what stops them? Apparently, the top factors holding people back are:
1. Concerns about the cost of commuting back into town (32 percent).
2. The time spent commuting (26 percent).
3. Not knowing where to move to (28 percent).
In response, Yopa has launched The London Commuter Guide (opens in new tab). It allows you to set a price tag for a house, how much you would be happy spending on a season ticket and how long you'd be prepared to spend travelling to and from work. It gives you the option of choosing low crime rates, low pollution levels and more, then presents you different locations that should suit all your requirements. We'd say that's a very handy tool for starting a search for a new home in a party of the country you're unfamiliar with.
There is, of course, a variety of locations to choose from, but, as a heads up, Yopa names the following as the top London commuter towns:
1. St Albans, Hertfordshire
2. Luton, Bedfordshire
3. Redhill, Surrey
4. Reading, Berkshire
5. Windsor, Berkshire
6. Three Bridges, West Sussex
7. Stevenage. Hertfordshire
8. Slough, Berkshire
- Find out everything you need to know about buying a house or flat in our guide
