Half the UK wants to move house

Homehunters spend more than 40 months thinking about their next move

(Alan Cleaver)

Just over half of UK adults are thinking about moving house or buying their first home, suggests a new report.

However, according to the new survey from Gocompare.com, nearly two thirds think that they will be unlikely to do so in the next year and a fifth that they will never be able to afford to move or buy.

On average, those considering moving have been planning for nearly four years and cite the biggest obstacles as the cost of buying/moving (16 per cent, high house prices in the area they want to buy (16 per cent), the cost of running a house (15 per cent), raising a deposit (14 per cent), uncertainty about job security or income (10 per cent), and a lack of availability of the type of house they would like to buy (9 per cent).

The survey also showed that:

*15 per cent think that they are unlikely to succeed with their house plans within the next five years

*18-to-34 year olds are the most worried that they will never be able to afford to buy a house or move

* London has the most residents considering a house move (62 per cent) followed by the South East (57 per cent) and North West (51 per cent).

* Londoners also top the list of those who say they are likely to move in the next year(44 per cent), followed by Yorkshire and The Humber (42 per cent) and Scotland (40 per cent).