95,000 forced to move home

The desire to get away from annoying neighbours has prompted 95,000 people to move house in the last two years.

This revelation was made in research carried out by Abbey Mortgages into the reasons why mortgage borrowers decide to move.

Altogether, 680,000 people have relocated in the last two years, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Abbey claims that the primary motivation for moving home is climbing the property ladder (one in three movers), followed by the need for more room (one in five).

Just under 217,000 people moved up the ladder in the last two years, 102,000 moved to a smaller property and 108,000 upped sticks because they had found their ideal home.

Schools were a major consideration for many, with 40,800 moving to the catchment area of the school they wanted their child or children to go to. And, perhaps reflecting the recession which kicked off in 2007, redundancy and financial problems have caused 6,800 people to move to a cheaper home over the past 24 months.

On a more positive note, 74,800 people relocated with a new job.

Sadly 13,600 needed to move because of a death in the family, and the same number again changed home because a relationship ended.

Abbey Mortgages' survey also found that seven per cent of all homeowners are actively looking to move, more than a third of these people said they were being motivated by necessity rather than choice.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Director of Abbey Mortgages, commented:

"The saying "love thy neighbour" seems long forgotten as so many of us plan to move each year just to get away from those next door.

"Despite this, people are still moving for positive reasons such as the desire to move up the property ladder or as a result of their dream home coming on to the market. We have seen a 50%  increase in the number of people applying for mortgages to buy a new home in recent months compared to the average monthly applications for purchase mortgages for the first half of the year.”