It’s very rare that the majority of people living across the world have the same experience as one another. However, when asked about 2020 most of us will agree we spent a lot of time at home! For those looking to move, this could mean that the priorities for what we want in our new house might have changed.

All that time at home brought about a shift in perspective, with many people asking whether they needed more space, to live in a less busy area or to be closer to their families. For some, the commute no longer exists, opening up new options that weren’t on the cards before. Here at HomeSwapper we have been noticing some changes in the reasons you want to move…

Working from home

As work for many became easier and safer to do at home, many of us in a position to setup from the comfort of our houses will have had a rethink about what home means and how we can adjust it to make home working possible in the longer term.

For some, that may mean changing location entirely. Before lockdown it was estimated that 1.7million of us worked from home, but in April that jumped to 50%! For many of us, that setup is probably going to remain for the foreseeable future. This means that a lot of people are now far less restricted by where their offices are when it comes to choosing a location to live in.

What HomeSwapper learnt from lockdown

Our resident HomeSwapper expert, Eddy Irvine explained that even though swappers couldn’t move during lockdown, a lot of you had your eyes on the prize for when lockdown was lifted. He explained that, “From a landlord’s point of view, yes, it was quieter, because mutual exchanges were on hold.  But what we’ve found on the systems throughout Covid-19 was that tenants were more active.

“Swappers were more active in updating their photographs, changing their preferences and speaking to each other. Through April, May and June, tenant traffic using the system was really busy.”

The top 5 features that swappers want from their new home hasn’t changed since lockdown, but the order of their importance has. Having a garden is now the most desirable feature in a new home.

The areas that people are moving to have changed as well. The top 10 places that swappers want to move to are now:

1. Essex
2. Hertfordshire
3. Kent
4. Hampshire
5. Surrey
6. West Sussex
7. Cornwall
8. Birmingham
9. Devon
10. Oxfordshire

It’s official: big cities are out (apart from the lovely Birmingham)! Eddy thinks that “Cornwall and Devon are interesting. You’d expect the others on the list because of the number of swappers in those areas, but people now want to move to the seaside!”

Eddy’s not wrong – research across this period has shown that people want more space, with 26% wanting to move to the seaside and 23% now considering a move to the peace and quiet of the countryside.

There was no doubt that all those using HomeSwapper still want a swap, but perhaps now with a change in perspective. If you’ve been using HomeSwapper for a while, this shake-up could be just the thing to help you find your perfect swap. If your preferences have changed, be sure to update them on the system and be ready for a brand new list of potential homes!

The HomeSwapper Customer Support team are always on hand to give advice and tips on how to get the most from HomeSwapper. They deal with Swappers every day and have a unique insight and view on the thousands of successful swaps that take place on HomeSwapper.