The happiest place to live in Scotland is Galashiels

Estate agency Rightmove has named Galashiels as Scotland’s happiest place to live.

More than 22,000 people across Great Britain took part in Rightmove’s Happy at Home survey, which asks residents how happy they are where they live, as well as asking them to rank 12 happiness factors.

The 12 factors range from how safe residents feel and how friendly the neighbours are, to how good the local services are, the level of community spirit and the quality of cultural activities in the area.

In Scotland, it’s Galashiels where residents are most content.

To mark such glittering scores, Rightmove have shone a light on these communities to showcase some of the finest properties in the happiest towns, villages and cities in Great Britain. Click here to view the national table in full.

The Scottish top 10 is:

1. Galashiels
2. Perth
3. Dumfries
4. Stirling
5. Inverness
6. Kilmarnock
7. Aberdeen
8. Paisley
9. Glasgow
10. Edinburgh

Polly Cregan, head of estate agency for Galbraith in the firm’s Galashiels office said: ‘It’s no surprise that Galashiels is loved by people who live here. The Scottish Borders is a highly attractive region, with a wealth of beautiful natural scenery and attractive historic towns.

The Gala Water flowing in Galashiels

‘Galashiels offers excellent services, schools, great pubs, restaurants and shops and a wide range of styles of property can be found in the town from the very traditional tenement to the more modern property. The countryside surrounding Galashiels offers superb opportunities for outdoor pursuits and the town has excellent access via both road and rail to Edinburgh.

‘Above all Galashiels has the annual Gala Week in the summer which brings the whole town together and culminates in the common riding on Gala Day which is such a proud and joyous celebration of our history.

‘We regularly have buyers from all over the UK who relocate to Galashiels to enjoy a better quality of life. The buzzing town set amongst beautiful scenery attracts families looking for a better work-life balance. The most popular properties currently are family homes and bungalows, which are in huge demand whenever they come on the market.’

For the Galbraith offices in Kelso and Galashiels, sales for the third quarter of this year (July – September 2019) were buoyant compared to the previous year.

Property viewings increased by 51 per cent; properties being brought to the market increased by 82 per cent and prospective buyers registering with Galbraith in the Scottish Borders increased by 26 per cent year-on-year.

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