More of us would move house

More of us would move home if it wasn’t the third most stressful thing in life

Research by digital home information pack provider, Moverly, has shown that 41% of homeowners would happily move home more often if it wasn’t so stressful, ranking just bereavement and major illness as a more stressful life occurrence.

Moverly commissioned a survey of over 3,000 UK homeowners, which found that moving house ranked third when asked what life’s most stressful occurrences were.

In fact, moving home is so stressful, it ranked above redundancy or job loss, divorce, finding a job, pregnancy, exams and learning to drive. Just bereavement and major illness or injury were named as more stressful events.

Despite the stress associated with moving house, 66% had done so more than three times in their lifetime.

However, while the stress of moving home may not prevent us from making multiple moves, we’re sure to leave plenty of time between each, with 73% also stating that they hadn’t moved house for more than five years.

What’s more, almost a fifth of homeowners (17%) admitted that the stress of moving has deterred them from purchasing a property in the past.

41% also stated that they would consider moving home more frequently if it wasn’t such a stressful experience.

So why is moving house so stressful? Well top of the list was the unavoidable task of organising and packing our lives away ready for the move.

The threat of a sale collapsing ranked second, with the uncertain time frames associated with buying and selling coming in third. Chasing solicitors also ranked high, as did organising and coordinating the move on the day, chain issues and changing over utilities.

Moverly co-founder Ed Molyneux, commented:

“As a nation, owning our own home is a key indicator of life success and this progresses as we move through various life stages and our property needs evolve. So while it’s an extremely stressful endeavour, moving house is something that most of us will tackle on multiple occasions during our lifetime.

The bad news is that there is simply no quick fix when it comes to the most stressful aspect of packing up our homes. However, it’s the uncertain nature of the property market, the threat of fall throughs and the delays experienced that are also responsible for a great deal of stress when moving house.

An upfront property pack can help in this regard, as it compiles all of the information you need when looking to sell your home, so that it’s all to hand for your agent, buyer or solicitor as and when it’s needed.

In doing so, you’re three times less likely to see your transaction collapse and you could complete up to 70% quicker, which could dramatically reduce the stress of moving home.”