The seven-year property itch

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.