Swindonians happy to live here: Survey (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindonians happy to live here: Survey

7:00am Monday 13th February 2012 in Local By David Wiles

A survey placed Swindon third in the south west for happiness

SWINDON residents are the least anxious in the country about their home running costs, according to a national survey by property website Rightmove.

The Happy at Home Index also ranked Swindon third overall in the south west for the happiness of its householders – just behind Exeter and Dorchester – and 16th nationally.

The poll, which surveyed more than 25,000 households in the UK, used 12 measures to assess how people feel about where they live, from the size and decorative condition of their property to the feeling of neighbourliness and levels of safety within their community.

Swindon came 10 index points above the national average and top overall in the factor of costs, measured by the stress exerted by the financial commitment of running a home. Nationally, more than 42 per cent said the costs of running their home caused them anxiety.

Glynis Hales, of Penhill, is a researcher for the health and social care organisation Turning Point, which is about to conduct a survey in partnership with Swindon Council and Swindon PCT on the topic of home energy.

She said she was surprised Swindon came top in the costs measure and hoped the project would shed light on the reasons.

“I think maybe people do get a lot of help in Swindon and especially Penhill and the three Ps (Pinehurst and the Parks). They’re considered to be poor communities and need more help, so I suppose they do get that help that way,” she said.

Glynis, who has lived in New Zealand, London and other locations, said Swindon was the best place in the world to live.

“We have got a great theatre, we’ve got great nightclubs, we’ve got parks, we’ve got shops – we’ve got everything here. Everything is here is miniature.

“It also seems to have a nice micro-climate because you can see the rest of the country has got this, that, or the other terrible weather going on, and we never seem to get as bad.

“There’s a great deal of community spirit. Not everywhere has got that but if you get involved it’s there.”

Robert Buckland, MP for South Swindon, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to hear that Swindon is faring well in such a poll.”

Council leader Rod Bluh said: “It’s good that people are broadly valuing the place in which they live and it just confirms what I think we already knew, which is Swindon is a place of huge potential,” he said.

“We’ve got low housing costs compared to the rest of the south, we’ve got fantastic countryside around us, we’ve got a really strong sense of community spirit in Swindon.”

The survey found that Carlisle was the happiest place to live in the UK, while residents in East London were the least happy.