Moving Mindsets: The seven-year property itch
Mirroring the well-known phenomenon in relationships, new research by The Co-operative Bank Mortgages reveals that a seven-year itch also exists in the property market, with people first considering a move after living in a property for 7 years.
The findings pinpoint the main triggers for this, with over two fifths of people looking to move house to find a bigger property for a growing family (41%), and one fifth looking to move nearer to work (20%) or simply becoming bored of their current home (17%).
Additionally one in ten home movers are also motivated by a desire to indulge their passion for DIY (14%), or even to show off to their friends (9%).
When looking at gender differences, on average women first start thinking about moving one whole year before men. Popular tactics to persuade other household members to consider a move include leaving property brochures hanging around (24%) nagging (21%), and arranging ‘surprise' trips to potential new locations (10%)
After taking into account the time taken to find a new property, the research confirms that on average Brits actually move house every 8 years, although in an ideal world they would prefer to only move every 11 years.
The research also uncovers that one in four people (27%) have moved into a house only to realise straight away that they don't like it and want to move. But with a third of people having bought a house they were unhappy with, because they couldn't afford anything else (36%), and over a quarter of people (26%) having bought a property purely because it made financial sense, this is perhaps not so unexpected.
After buying a new property, the findings also establish that it actually takes 2 years for those moving to feel at ‘home'. In order to speed up this process, people use different approaches including decorating the whole house from top to bottom (39%), putting up pictures and photos (36%) and making contact with the neighbours (28%)
John Hughes, Director of Retail Products for The Co-operative Bank comments: "The research shows that there are a wide range of motivations behind moving house as people look to take account of both their changing family and financial situations throughout their lifetimes. With homes such an important part of our life, it is important that people do plan ahead, especially with regards to their finances, to make sure they make the right choices and alleviate many of the pressures associated with the moving process."
The research also establishes that overall almost three quarters of people (71%) are happy with where they live now, with people in Yorkshire the happiest and those in London the least happy.