London named ‘nosey neighbour’ capital of Britain

London is the online curtain-twitching capital of Britain, where more residents monitor the value of their neighbour’s homes than anywhere else in the country, according to the latest research from property information website Zoopla.co.uk.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth has the highest proportion of informed homeowners, who regularly track the value of their own properties online.

Continued housing market uncertainty has increased British homeowners’ obsession with keeping tabs on the value of their biggest asset and comparing it to that of their neighbours, made easier by Zoopla.co.uk, which provide free, instant value estimates for every property in the country.

The figures, based on over two million value estimates run by users of the Zoopla.co.uk website, show that London is home to the ‘nosiest neighbours’ in Britain, who regularly check the value of their neighbours’ properties online, followed closely by residents of Reading and Milton Keynes. At the other end of the scale, residents in Liverpool, Hull and Wolverhampton show the least interest in keeping up with the values of their neighbours’ homes.

When it comes to owners monitoring the value of their own homes, Bournemouth takes the prize for having the ‘most-informed’ property owners. In contrast, homeowners in Middlesbrough appear the least informed and interested in staying up-to-date with the current value of their homes.

Within London, the research revealed that the nosiest residents are to be found in Richmond-upon-Thames, Wandsworth and Hammersmith & Fulham, whilst those least interested in keeping up with the Joneses can be found in are Hackney, Barking and Dagenham and the City of London.

Nicholas Leeming, Commercial Director of Zoopla.co.uk comments: “The constant stream of conflicting house price reports makes it hard for property owners to make sense of what is really happening in their local housing markets. Nosiness is a particularly British trait, but it isn’t a bad thing when it comes to property. Monitoring the value of an individual property and staying on top of local market statistics and recent transaction prices allows both buyers and sellers to make more informed property-related decisions. Being in the know, doing your research and gathering as much information as possible is the smart thing to do and the internet makes this infinitely easier to do via sites such as Zoopla.co.uk. Perhaps the British should be regarded as ‘knowsey’ rather than ‘nosey’?”