Rotherham ranked 'unhappiest' place to live in the country - but there are exciting changes ahead

The town came 211th - dead last - in house selling website Rightmove’s ‘Happy at Home Index’ 2022. The rankings, stem from a survey of 21,000 Brits who were asked what they thought of their area.

Participants were asked to rank 10 'happiness factors – sense of belonging, community spirit, friendly and polite inhabitants, ability to be oneself, nature and green spaces, opportunities to develop skills, arts and cultural activities, sports and recreational activities, essential services such as doctors and schools as well as non-essential amenities such as restaurants and shops.

St Ives in Cornwall was top of the table, with Harrogate the ‘happiest’ town in Yorkshire and the Humber and sixth overall. Sheffield was 78th and Barnsley 100th. But Rotherham was all the way down at 211th – the bottom of the table.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science said: “This year’s Happy at Home survey really shows that the things that make people happy to live in their area are not so much the physical aspects of that area but more the personal aspects, such as our sense of belonging, the community and the people. The last few months have undoubtedly been difficult for many, and as we learned during another difficult period in 2020, this is often when we look to our local area and community for support and happiness.”

The second happiest place overall was Galashiels, a well-to-do town in the Scottish Borders, followed by Woodbridge, one of the richest towns in Suffolk.

Rotherham has pockets of deprivation, poverty and unemployment and suffered greatly with the child sexual exploitation, which involved the abuse of 1,400 children by men of predominantly Pakistani heritage while authorities failed to act between 1997 and 2013.

But it is hoped that Rotherham may rise up the ‘happiness’ ranks soon with developments such as Forge Island gathering pace and aimed at breathing new life into the town.

It is a multi-million-pound leisure flagship development, which will include a new cinema, hotels and restaurants, as part of the wider masterplan to revitalise the town centre.