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So, You’ve Just Moved. When Will It Feel Like Home?

  • 6 years ago

The short answer is that it takes, on average, four months for a new place to feel like home. It’s not something that just happens by itself, though, as you have to help to make it happen. One thing that can speed things up, however, is getting completely unpacked as quickly as you can. Brits take an average of three and a half months to get everything unpacked and laid out, which probably doesn’t help…

Cooking that first meal, or performing that first deep clean and meeting the neighbours also helps people to settle in. There are a few lucky ones who feel right at home as soon as they open the door for the first time.

The first steps to creating a new home

In general, British house movers seem to work from a list of priorities when they settle into a new place. They install a new phone, broadband and TV first of all, before cleaning and making up the beds. Then they sort out the other utilities before putting up their curtains and blinds. A few of us just head straight to the nearest pub!

Another thing they’re also tardy with, as well as unpacking, is home security. Shockingly, very few Brits make a priority of changing their locks and checking that their new smoke alarms work.

Further down the line

Once the internet and telly are sorted, people tend to get on with the longer-term projects, like decorating, changing the flooring and doing up the garden. In terms of rooms, most people start on the living room, with the kitchen coming a close second.

Some replace bathroom suites and kitchen fittings, with a minority of movers getting to work on extensions or internal remodelling to create more space. Nationally, the average spend on these projects is £15,000, with Londoners digging deepest into their pockets (£25,215) and the Welsh spending the least (£8,504).

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