The Future of Living

Moving around

In Survey 2, we drilled down into our hopes and expectations about moving home, combining those with some of the influencing factors and of course how it relates to our ability to thrive.

First, looking at our propensity and intention to move, it seems that we are very much still creatures of habit as a whole.

On average we’ve only moved 1.3 times in the last ten years and 63% of us have been in our current home for over five years. Furthermore, there’s a significant amount of us (41%) that don’t think we’re going anywhere ever again!

As always, the numbers get a bit more interesting as we break things down across our core demographics. Youngsters (18–34 year-olds), as we would expect are the most mobile; 50% more so than the next generation (35–54 year-olds) and four times more than those 55 years and older (on average only one in two have moved at all over this time). There is also a socio-economic element at play here as well with those in lower income brackets (<£20k pa) having moved 20% less and having 52% less intention to move than those in higher income brackets (>£40k pa).

Looking at things regionally, there’s no surprise that London leads the UK for moving around. Londoners have moved 62% more than the national average over the last ten years and only 25% expect to not be moving again. Historically, those moving least come from three geographical extremities of the mainland (Wales, East of England and Scotland) while the Welsh also top the list of those not wanting to go anywhere along with the Northern Irish.

To read more about these topics – download the full Survey 2 report (pages 10-12)

• For those us that do intend to move again, what’s the plan and the aspiration?
• What is the actual reality?
• What do sharers want?
• For those who rent, how do they want to rent?
• How will our kids live in the future?
• Do our living arrangements affect our ability to thrive?