Some 20% of people have struggled to fit their belongings into their new property.
Property size and standard measurements are confusing house hunters, Barclays Mortgages has found.
One in four don’t understand the concept of a square foot or square metre.
This leads to one in five admitting they have struggled to fit their belongings into their property and over one quarter have had to return furniture that didn’t fit in their new home (28%).
Hannah Bernard, head of mortgages at Barclays, said:“As more of us look for properties online it’s interesting to see how, as a nation, we’re struggling to judge how much space there is.
“It’s important to think about whether you need more space in a new property or if you can simply extend your home to suit your needs.
“We understand the factors that need to be considered in these circumstances and want to help families stay in control of their finances as they plan for a change in their home – whether it’s a first move, a remortgage or home improvements.”
Over half of homeowners and first-time buyers don’t know the size of their home in square foot or square metres.
Furthermore, people often over-estimate the average size of a UK property which is a three-bedroom home.
For example, when asked, most Brits believed it to be almost 40% larger than reality (1100 sq ft compared to 800 sq ft).
When searching for a new property online, two thirds of house hunters (69%) don’t look at the floor plans and just judge a property by its photos.
This results in an average of four days wasted looking at properties that are too small.
Over a third (38%) of homeowners wish they had moved into a bigger property than they currently live in and a quarter (25%) wish at least one of their rooms was larger.
Looking for more room, 37% of homeowners plan to improve their home to create additional space.
