Home buyers in East Midlands avoid moving on Friday the 13th

While it is well known that Friday's are generally the most popular day for people moving home - more than one-in-10 home-buyers avoid moving into their new house on Friday the 13th!

Data compiled by The Nottingham, which is the UK's 14th largest building society, discovered that 13% less home movers in the East Midlands will move into their new place on this specific day.

The Society has examined its own house-moving statistics between 2001 and 2009, and found Friday the 13th is a day avoided like no other.

As Graham Lang, estate agency operations manager of The Nottingham, explained: "People tend to buy into negative superstitions, like having seven years bad luck after smashing a mirror.

"If you're one of these people, the fact that it's Friday the 13th could make you anxious and that will make you more likely to have accidents."

People who fear Friday the 13th and are more careful about what they do on the day are said to have ‘paraskavedekatriaphobia', which is linked to the phobia ‘triskaidekaphobia' - a fear of the number 13.

"So if someone is superstitious, it's not unnatural for them to be wary of this particular day in the diary. Obviously I don't know whether there is any merit in the superstition. All I can say with authority is that it is a day home-movers consistently avoid when they are planning their big day."

Whilst some facts do seem to back up the fears of those people wary of Friday the 13th, it isn't all bad.

A study completed by the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on 12 June 2008, stated: "Fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are preventatively more careful or just stay home."