The top 10 happiest places to live in Great Britain for 2026 have been named, and the north is well represented.
Just as it has done for the last 13 years now, Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index, which explores exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlights the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year.
This year, thousands of residents across more than 200 locations told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community – from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlines the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
And among the top 10 happiest places to live, Rightmove has selected five northern towns for the list, including two here in the North West – and, crucially, one in Greater Manchester.
ADVERTISEMENT
Altrincham was named the sixth happiest place to live in Britain.
Altrincham has been named one of Britain’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The Trafford town often gets its name thrown around in conversations like this, and with the variety of homes available, plenty of good local schools, great access to green space, and an ever-expanding retail environment and dining scene in the town centre – including the popular Altrincham Market, and the Stamford Quarter – it’s really not hard to see why.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rightmove said that the average house price in Altrincham in 2025 was £643,244 and the average rental price (per calendar month) was £2,698, which does put the town up there with most most expensive in our region, it has to be said.
Elsewhere on the top 10 list, it was the popular Yorkshire town of Skipton that took the crown as Britain’s happiest place to live.
Macclesfield in Cheshire was the other North West inclusion at number seven, and then the other northern towns ranked in the top 10 are Harrogate at four and Hexham, in Northumberland, at number 10.
When it comes to the wider rankings, and the North West ranking as a whole, no other Greater Manchester town made it into the region’s top five, however Stockport did find itself in the North West’s top 10 in the sixth spot.
A sense of belonging and wellbeing, and how the environment shapes daily life were highlighted as major influencing factors on the top 10.
But Rightmove did admit that this year’s survey showed there are many different layers that combine to influence what is or isn’t a happy and fulfilling lifestyle.
“Interestingly, this year’s survey shows that our happiness with where we live often grows with age,” Rightmove said of this year’s Index.
“Residents aged 18-24 were the least likely to say they felt happy where they live. Happiness then increases through the age brackets, with those aged 65 and over being the most likely to feel happy with where they live.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
News
ITV to be bought out by Sky in transformational British broadcasting deal worth £1.6 billion
Danny Jones
In a watershed moment for British broadcasting, Sky has reached a transformational agreement worth more than £1.6 billion to buy out ITV in a landmark takeover deal.
With Sky already owned by US telecommunications corporation Comcast, this is set to be one of the biggest shakeups in TV and streaming for some time.
Talks actually started last November, but the process to complete a buyout like this has obviously taken a significant amount of time and money already.
It’s also worth noting that the deal is still pending full approval from the relevant regulators; nevertheless, it’s fair to say that it could change the face of the British media giants – who are based here in Greater Manchester over at MediaCity – but might signal a significant overhaul of our media landscape.
The Sky Group have assured there will be no immediate change to popular shows and will not be put behind a paywall at present (for now, anyway), with ITV still under a free-to-air service until 2034 as part of its public licensing contract.
Aquisitons/mergers of this size like this don’t come around very often, at least not across this side of the pond, with the growing Disney’s growing multinational monopolisation being one of the biggest examples of conglomerates mopping up major networks and huge brands over the past decade.
Writing in a statement, Sky said: “The UK media market is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and as competition for audiences intensifies, scale matters more than ever in order to compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK.
“Viewers will continue to enjoy the shows they know and love, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, This Morning, Loose Women, Lorraine and News at Ten – alongside major live sporting events.”
That lattermost example feels particularly poignant at the moment, as this also means that the likes of ITV’s impressive World Cup coverage will come under the Sky umbrella in the near future.
ITV agrees sale of media and entertainment business to Sky for up to £1.6bnhttps://t.co/UtgO9REejy
It’s being seen as an ambitious attempt to shake up traditional terrestrial telly and digital platforms, with the ‘old guard’, as it were, having to move forward and fast to keep up with the mercurial market becoming evermore dominated by streaming services.
Of course, there are plenty raising questions and concerns over yet another domestic institution becoming deeper and deeper entwined with big American business; on the other hand, former ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, who still owns shares, says the deal was “essential” for its survival.
ITV will also receive £1.2bn in cash and Sky’s Love Productions business in return for ownership of their media and entertainment arm, whose shows include the Great British Bake Off.
Moving forward, ITV will also get a further £200m in 2028 if they meet revenue targets when it comes to advertising, with Sky promising to spend over £2.1bn on content from ITV Studios over a five-year period. You can read the full update from ITV right HERE.
Featured Images — James West (via Flickr)/Publicity picture
News
Wayne Rooney ‘agrees’ to bizarre bet ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
Danny Jones
England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has seemingly roped himself into a bizarre bet of his own making after yet more teams booked their place in the quarter-final stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It’s not quite Gary Lineker doing Match of the Day in his underpants after Leicester won the league, level, but we’d still pay to see it.
However, after the bedlam following England booking their spot in the quarter-finals this morning (feels odd to say and we’re still not quite sure what day it is), you might be surprised to learn it has nothing to do with the Three Lions’ historic victory.
It does have to do with who they’ll be facing in their next game, though: Norway, as Rooney seemed confident enough in his prediction that the Scandinavian side wouldn’t make it into the final eight that he wagered he’d row down the River Mersey. Well, they did…
Yes, in case you missed it, the Norwegians did make it past Brazil with a 2-1 win – and, of course, more goals for Erling Haaland – before Thomas Tuchel’s side had barely even woken up for their very long day at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico.
While no one was quite sure why ‘Wazza’ was quite so confident that the ‘Seleção’ were going to go through, especially since Norway had shown just as much star power in spells in the opening four rounds, he still decided to throw down the gauntlet on himself.
As you can see in the clip above, he says he’s a “man of [his] word” and looks to have even roped in the likes of fellow former pros turned punditry colleagues on the night, Micah Richards and Joe Hart.
That being said, he did make the caveat that perhaps it would be better if the BBC could somehow sort them to sail down the Hudson River in New York instead, simply for the sake of ‘time’.
We’re not sure exactly how easy it is for the British broadcasters to simply secure permission to take a rowboat down one of the busiest and most famous waterways in the world, but you never know.
Here’s hoping they at least try to make something happen, anyway.
There’s been plenty of curious and comedic moments already this tournament, but for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Harry Kane’s post-match following the tense 3-2 thriller against Mexico, you really need to.
He was given the chance to chat to the media once again after his voice recovered, but let’s just say the memes that have already come from THAT interview are almost as memorable as the match itself.
Emily Sergeant -
9th December 2025 
