Scotland has been found to be one of the regions with the most staying power with residents staying in one home for just over 11 years.
The team at home interiors specialists www.Hillarys.co.uk conducted research as part of an ongoing study into what areas of the UK homeowners stay in their homes the longest for before deciding to move house.
More than 2,300 homeowners took part in the survey, all of whom had owned and lived in their homes for three or more years.
All respondents were asked if they were planning to sell and move house before the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK going into lockdown, with one in four admitting that they had been (25%).
It was then revealed that more than two thirds of those are now staying put and delaying their sale and move (67%).
Of those, many stated it was down to wanting to wait for more settled times, with regards to coronavirus (38%) and the stability of the housing market (36%).
Following on from this, all respondents were asked to give details about how long they had lived in their current home for and what region these properties were in.
The statistics show that Wales and the North East have the highest staying power, with London having the least. The regional statistics were discovered to be:
- Wales – 13 years and 11 months (average time spent in one home before moving to another)
- North East – 12 years 3 months
- Scotland – 11 years 5 months
- Yorkshire – 10 years 8 months
- North West – 10 years
- West Midlands – 9 years 10 months
- South East – 9 years 5 months
- East Midlands – 8 years 1 month
- East England – 7 years 9 months
- South West – 7 years
- London – 6 years 10 months
Respondents were asked to provide information about what gave a home/location staying power. The most important factors were found to be as follows:
- Value for money – 61%
- Friends and family living nearby – 54%
- Job opportunities – 40%
- Good schools – 39%
- Desirable neighbourhood – 33%
Respondents were asked to state the biggest reason for moving home.
The house being too big/too small was top of the list (39%), followed by wanting to move a little further away from the centre of the town/city (21%) and being able to get more for your money by moving home (20%).
Lucy Askew, spokeswoman for www.Hillarys.co.uk, said: “It’s interesting to see such a high percentage of people wanting to stay put.
“Of course, coronavirus is changing people’s minds about moving, especially in the immediate future; but there must still be a high level of home satisfaction, which is great to see.’’
