A suburb of Southampton that is "hugely popular with families" has been ranked as the happiest place to live in the city.

Bassett came out on top, besting Chilworth in second place, Highfield in third, Netley in fourth and Ocean Village in fifth.

This ranking was created by Furniturebox who surveyed 5,000 people across the UK, with panels in each big city and county including Southampton.

Locations were ranked according to various factors including:

  • the beauty of the surroundings and green spaces
  • provision of good state schools
  • provision of affordable housing
  • access to quality pubs, restaurants, independent shops and cultural attractions

Discussing Bassett's attributes, Furniturebox wrote: "North of the city centre and close to both Southampton Common and the M27 motorway, Bassett is hugely popular with families and is home to some very good schools, as well as the open space of the common and Southampton City Golf Club.

"Bassett is home to Cantell School - a secondary rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Bassett Green Primary School is rated as Good.

"Popular pubs include the Chilworth Arms and the Butchers Hook Alehouse."

Alongside that, Bassett made it onto Furniturebox's top 70 happiest places to live in the UK, ranking in 60th spot.

The full list of the top 70 happiest places can be found on the Furniturebox website here.

A Furniturebox spokesperson said: “Bassett is the happiest place to live in Southampton.

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“All 70 places on the list would have been worthy winners and show why the UK is such a wonderful place to live, loved by visitors from all over the world.

“Most of the locations in the top 70 are not the most affluent in their localities and have access to some affordable housing.

"The survey shows that the happiest places are not defined by wealth but by the quality of life within them.”