The findings reveal an increasingly isolated Britain in which 9.5 million (19%) people say they wish they had a stronger relationship with their neighbours and only 39% would actually call them a friend.
Some 40% of people surveyed said that they would be willing to pay more for a home if they knew the person living next door would be a good neighbour to them.
The average amount that people would be willing to pay, on top of the price of the property, was 7% – equivalent to £15,321 – although roughly 1.5 million people would pay a premium of more than 20% (£43,837+) for this additional peace of mind.
The same study also revealed that almost 13 million (26%) people in the UK don’t actually know their next door neighbour’s full name and two in five (22%) don’t know what they do for a living. 3.5 million (7%) people in the UK have no idea who they live next door to, while a further 1.5 million (3%) admit to feeling threatened by their next door neighbour.
Samantha Baden, property analyst at FindaProperty.com, said: “One of the things people want most from a home is to feel safe, comfortable and welcome, and this is almost entirely dependent upon the people who live nearby.
“It’s not just tangible factors like transport links and square footage that contribute to property price – the strength of the local community is a real selling point for many buyers too.
“The fact that people are willing to pay more than £15,000 to live near a good neighbour highlights the importance of community and security when choosing a new home. We may not want to borrow a cup of sugar from our neighbours, but we do want the peace of mind in knowing that we live next door to someone who is courteous and trustworthy.”
