UK home movers spent £1.1 billion last year to ensure their new homes were decked out with all the latest kit, including: £160m on beds, £20m on toasters and £78m on washing machines. These figures are on top of the high purchase prices that house buyers are experiencing all over the UK.

The research by the price comparison website, PriceRunner.co.uk, looks at 12 modern day household items, essential for any new home. It shows that UK home movers are not prepared to make do with hand-me-downs from friends and relatives or second hand goods left by the previous owner.

Over one in four people surveyed said they bought every item included in the study brand new when they moved, spending an average of £3,500 . Beds top the list as the most important purchase with 43% of all home movers splashing out to ensure sweet dreams.

First time buyers take on average five years to save for their first home but, once they get the key, over one in four (27%) 18-29 year old first time buyers opt to buy everything brand new, often asking relatives to help out with gifts. Due to high house prices almost half of all first time buyers are helped onto the property ladder by their parents in the first place .

A nation of dust busters

The research also identified the top household appliances and products people couldn’t survive without, with a staggering 93% of the UK’s population claiming they can’t live without their vacuum cleaner. Clean clothes were a close second to pristine floors with 92% saying they couldn’t live without their washing machines. Hassle free washing up came bottom of the list, with almost three quarters of those questioned stating they could do without a dishwasher.

Females more concerned with creature comforts

Male and female priorities differ with women more concerned about luxury items than men. Over three quarters of women said they could not live without a television, compared with two thirds of men. Almost half of men felt they could live without music in their lives but two thirds of women claimed they couldn’t do without a stereo. Women are also the bigger coach potatoes with 90% saying they couldn’t part with their sofa.

Scots top spenders

Scots are most concerned with brand new items with almost a third of Scottish home movers buying all their household appliances and items new. Londoners are the most happy to settle for other people’s second hand goods with only one in five splurging on new purchases, not surprising considering average house prices in London now top £300,000, compared to a national average of £184,000 .

Mattias Berg, UK Country Manager at PriceRunner.co.uk commented: “Recent research from Nationwide Building Society showed that mortgages are gobbling up on average 42% of our salaries. So it is important that home movers try to budget and pace their purchases for their house when they move, to avoid further debt.

Moving house can be one of the most costly periods of a person’s life, and many people sometimes neglect to think ahead about how much kitting out their home will cost, instead just focusing on stamp duty, solicitor fees and the house price itself. Our advice would be to make sure you are getting the best value for your purchases by checking price comparison websites before you get the credit card out.”

Other key findings:
• One in ten South Westerners said they couldn’t live without any of the 12 key household appliances and items included in the study, compared to just three percent of those in the East Midlands

• Those in the North West loathe washing up and over a third say they couldn’t live without their dishwasher compared to a national average of 28%. Those in the South East are the biggest TV fiends with almost a third saying they couldn’t live without their trusty box, compared to just 19% of Yorkshire men and women

Products selected in survey & the savings that can be made by checking PriceRunner.co.uk before you buy

* as found on PriceRunner.co.uk
** not available on PriceRunner.co.uk

August One

About PriceRunner
PriceRunner, a division of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK), is the UK’s most comprehensive and independent price comparison company. Online prices are updated on a daily basis by a specialist team that develops and manages cutting edge technology which hunts down the cheapest online prices available. PriceRunner is unique in that, unlike other price comparison sites, a dedicated team of PriceRunners also checks prices in high street stores. PriceRunner always lists the cheapest price first and is completely independent in that it lists all retailers, regardless whether they pay or not, to provide consumers with a complete overview of the market.

About ValueClick:
ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq:VCLK) is a leading global provider of digital marketing solutions, enabling advertisers, agencies and publishers to reach consumers through all major online marketing channels. Through its four main businesses; vcmedia, Commission Junction, Mediaplex and PriceRunner, ValueClick provides a comprehensive portfolio of digital marketing solutions.

For more information, please visit www.valueclick.co.uk

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