Happy Hour - TheMoveChannel.co.uk

(EMAILWIRE.COM, April 15, 2009 ) UK - After devouring lots of chocolate this Easter weekend, it seems an appropriate time to check out BritainÂ’s happiest places, as revealed by the British Household Panel Survey, which takes into account amount of green space, crime rates, population and air and noise pollutionÂ…

You wonÂ’t find peace just by moving to a peaceful place Â– or, in other words, we make our own happiness.

Our surroundings can of course help though Â– and the new survey based on data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) has revealed BritainÂ’s happiest places.

Wales reigned supreme in the survey, with Powys being named BritainÂ’s happiest location. Boasting beautiful scenery, plenty of green space and friendly neighbours, PowysÂ’ residents said that their sense of wellbeing was sky high and nabbed the top spot.

Manchester, Macclesfield and West Lothian also scored well in the survey.

The BHPS questioned a sample from 5,000 households about their sense of general wellbeing and found that the only major differences between how happy locals felt in each place were when health, educational qualifications and employment were taken into consideration.

This supports the idea that, rather than having anything to do with geographical location, peopleÂ’s happiness is mostly determined by other circumstances and factors.

But, Researcher Dr Dimitris Ballas from the University of Sheffield said, Â“Your immediate surroundings are very important, in terms of happiness.Â”

People were found to be more miserable in Swansea, Clydesdale, Doncaster and Edinburgh.

Eight of the top ten happiest districts were in Scotland or the north of England.

New hope for UK property market

Green shoots are appearing in the UK property market, with the number of mortgages on offer to UK buyers increasing and the decline in house prices slowing.

Recent research from Mortgage Brain found that the number of mortgages on offer last month rose from 2,731 at the beginning of the month to 3.091 at the end of the month. This represents a rise of 13 per cent in one month.

In order to get the market moving again, the number of mortgages on offer must increase and so these stats reveal a positive start.

The news on house prices is starting to look slightly more positive too Â– NationwideÂ’s research found that properties in the UK prices rose by an average of 0.9 per cent in March. Although this is a drop in the ocean in comparison to the house price falls of late, it does perhaps indicate that the price falls have slowed.

Home loan approvals also rose by 19 per cent from January this year.

For more information on properties in the UK and the market in general, please visit http://www.themovechannel.co.uk/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.co.uk
0207 952 7650

TheMoveChannel.com
Dan Johnson
020 7952 7650
dj@themovechannel.com