A nation of super snoopers: Majority of Brits have looked up how much colleagues, family members, and even potential partners paid for their home
11th August 2021
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Six in ten Brits admit to looking up how much people they know have paid for their home
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Brits are most likely to snoop on the purchase prices of neighbours’, friends’ and families’ homes
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Meanwhile 11% looked up what a colleague paid for their property, with three in ten making assumptions about a colleague’s salary after uncovering the information
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A brazen one in ten have vetted someone they were dating by checking out the value of their home, and a third continued to date someone they wouldn’t have otherwise; by contrast, a quarter stopped
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Ultimately, just a fifth think it’s acceptable to ask someone what their home is worth, saying it’s ‘rude’
Six in ten nosy Brits (59%) admit to finding out what friends, family, colleagues and even potential lovers paid for their home, according to new research released today from Zoopla. And while we’re seemingly a nation of brazen busy bodies, 65% of us would never admit to the owner that we’d researched their home’s value.
Whilst just 19% believe it is ok to simply ask someone what they paid for their home, property websites now mean this information is just a few clicks away. Zoopla’s My Home Experience even enables users to find out a home’s estimated value and what was paid for it, revealing if the owner has made a packet on their property. And Brits can’t get enough of it.
Love thy neighbour
Curious Brits are most likely to look up the sale price or value of the home of a neighbour (36%), a friend (34%) or a family member (29%). But more than one in ten (11%) have looked up how much a colleague paid for their home, and 3% have even checked out the price of their boss’s pad. Nearly three in ten (28%) say they made presumptions about a colleague’s salary after seeing how much their home was worth.
Brits appear to know the practice is a little sneaky; just one in five (20%) say they have ever asked anyone in person what they paid for their home. Indeed, 37% believe asking someone what their home is worth is ‘rude’, whilst 28% say it is ‘awkward’.
Rise of the free-hold digger?
The research also uncovered surprising findings regarding how many people appear to vet potential partners by checking out their home online first. Nearly one in ten (8%) say they have checked out the value of the home of a partner, ex-partner or someone they were dating.
And this had a surprisingly strong impact on how the relationships developed, with nearly a third (32%) saying they have continued to date someone they wouldn’t have otherwise after viewing their home online, with the figure rising to 46% for those aged 35-44.
A further 50% say it ‘encouraged’ them to keep seeing someone – rising to 63% for men. Meanwhile a quarter (24%) say they have stopped seeing someone after seeing the value of their home – again rising to 30% for men.
A jealous streak
Romance-aside, the research found that seeing how much someone’s house is worth can have an impact on how they feel about them. 11% admit to feeling jealous after looking up the value of someone’s property, ten per cent say they respected someone more, and 9% even said they liked someone more after looking up their home online.
However, value isn’t the only reason Brits pry on other people’s homes online. Nearly a quarter (23%) say it is to get a better idea of what their own home is worth, whilst 18% are simply curious to see what someone’s home looks like on the inside.
Tom Parker, Consumer Spokesperson at Zoopla, comments: “Buttoned up Brits love talking about house prices – but for most, asking someone straight-up what they paid for their home is still considered a taboo. But how much a house sold for is publicly available information and is easy to source online. Whether it's your boss, a friend or even a potential partner, it’s clear we want to know more about the homes they live in and will often treat them differently as a result.
“But such data isn’t just there just to satisfy the nosy habits of some Brits. Zoopla’s My Home Experience has been designed to empower homeowners with all the knowledge they could possibly need when it comes to making their home-moving decisions, from finding out if their home’s estimated value has soared, to comparing it to similar homes for sale nearby.”
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For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
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