British interiors suffer at the hands of high house prices

Sixty per cent of new home owners in the UK struggle to decorate and furnish their houses after forking out high prices for the property, according to research from home insurer MORE TH>N.

Over a third (35 per cent) just do the basics such as painting the walls and a further quarter stretch themselves so far that they are not even able to do that. When it comes to buying things to furnish their homes, Brits only spend on average £972 a year – equating to just £19 a week.

The MORE TH>N research found that the identical layout of new builds makes househunting increasingly difficult as the homes are less appealing to buyers. Almost half (48 per cent) of those surveyed believe that the problem is made worse by the rise of home improvement TV shows, which encourage the same trend in decoration throughout the country, leaving homes with a distinct lack of character.

Standards of furnishings have also suffered the research revealed. 42 per cent of the nation would prefer to spend more money on high tech gadgets such as laptops and widescreen televisions than essential items such as beds, furniture and kitchen equipment. Only a quarter (24 per cent) consider these essentials to be important.

Commenting on the research, Mike Holliday-Williams, managing director of MORE TH>N, said: “Britain was once the place of cosy country cottages and quirky towns and cities. However, due to a housing shortage we are witnessing a new generation of development, where houses and apartments are increasingly standardised both inside and out. The impact on the average home owner is two fold. Firstly, finding a unique property is more costly and difficult and secondly it often means that the new owners will have to spend more time and money personalising their homes to their own tastes.”