Susan Buller, Ann Landrigan and Jill Grant, who meet by the lake with their dogs on Monday mornings, all agree that Canberra is a good place to live.

Susan Buller, Ann Landrigan and Jill Grant, who meet by the lake with their dogs on Monday mornings, all agree that Canberra is a good place to live. Photo: Colleen Petch

Canberrans think their city is clean and safe, helping it to second place on a national liveability ranking.

But only 50 per cent of Canberrans said they believed their city had a good climate, the weakest score of all the cities surveyed.

And only a quarter of locals think the nation’s capital offers a good range of affordable housing.

Canberrans think their city is clean and safe.

Canberrans think their city is clean and safe. Photo: Glen McCurtayne

The Property Council of Australia’s report asked participants to rank the relative importance of a range of their city’s attributes, including cleanliness, safety, and good healthcare and public transport,  and then asked respondents whether their city exhibited those attributes.

Canberra came in second of 11 cities in overall liveability, just behind Adelaide, with scores of 63.6 and 63.4 respectively.

The national capital’s score dropped slightly, by 0.2, from the 2011 report.

Sydney and Darwin were given the worst liveability scores of the 11 cities surveyed.

A higher portion of Canberrans than any other city said they believed their city was clean, well maintained and unpolluted, and a safe place for people and their property.

Canberra was also ranked the best for being home to a diverse range of people who get along well, and was above average for offering a wide range of outdoor recreational environments, an attractive natural environment and good schools.

But only 25 per cent of Canberrans said their city had a good range of quality affordable housing, ranking only above Darwin.

Catherine Carter, executive director of the Property Council of Australia ACT, told ABC radio on Monday morning the results indicated the ACT government needed to change policies in regards to affordable housing.

Ms Carter said the government should consider releasing more land and changing tax settings, and suggested community opposition to infill was held by a vocal minority.

‘‘The research shows that Canberra residents actually are more likely to support, rather than oppose housing developments to support population growth, including a high level of support for infill development,’’ she said.