UK homeowners move 2.6 times during home ownership

People in the UK move house an average of 2.6 times throughout the course of home ownership, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) claims.

The bank’s offset mortgage research finds that homeowners in Greater London are the most likely to stay in one place once they have found a home, with one in five not moving out of their first house.

Contrarily, customers in East Anglia are the most likely to move house ten times or more, while 12 per cent of those in the south-west and 13 per cent in Wales are likely to move between six and ten times.

While the simple activity of moving house is stressful and disruptive enough, RBS points out that the process of changing a mortgage can also be very problematic.

“The stress of finding and purchasing a new home is more than enough for anyone, without the added concern of having to find a new mortgage lender and spend valuable time and money on renegotiating the mortgage for your new property,” said Karen Snodgrass.

The RBS offset mortgage includes a portable facility, as well as offering the opportunity to pay off your loan approximately two and a half years ahead of schedule, the company claims.

According to the organisation’s research, there is a strong desire among Britons to own their own home, with nine out of ten mortgage holders saying they want to pay off their home loan as soon as possible.