As Halloween approaches Ocean has become the latest firm to discover that large number of people across the UK think there are ghostly goings-on happening behind their front doors, with 15% saying that they think their home is haunted.
Of those surveyed by Ocean nearly half (47%) said they’ve felt a ‘presence’ in their home, and almost three in 10 (29%) claimed they have experienced strange and unearthly chills around the property.
One in six (16%) of those living in a suspected haunted house revealed that they had actually seen a ghost there.
Whilst there were some who claimed to have seen a spectre haunting their home, others had experienced the aftermath of spiritual activity.
A fifth of respondents said they had seen items around their property move on their own – whether actually witnessing things flying around or finding that items were not where they had left them.
However, phantom flatmates could hinder someone trying to sell their home. Another survey for Ocean found that three in 10 (30%) said they would be put off buying a property if someone had recently died there.
Nearly a quarter (23%) said that a property’s proximity to a graveyard could dissuade them from buying, and one in 10 (9%) even admitted that they would decide against a house if its address was ‘number 13’.
However, superstitious and psychic beliefs may also help property sellers. Over a quarter (26%) said that when they had been to view a house or flat they were interested in buying, they felt an aura around the property.
Three-quarters (77%) of these said that the property’s aura had been positive, with the remaining quarter (23%) sensing a negative aura.
A property’s aura even influenced some people’s decision to buy. Of those who claimed to have felt an aura at a property, nearly three-fifths (58%) said that it had encouraged them to move in.
Just one in five (20%) said that the presence of an aura had dissuaded them from buying a home, showing that in general, house sellers can be thankful for these ‘feelings’.
Ian Williams, spokesman for Ocean, said: “It seems that some people in Britain are less pragmatic than they seem!
“With so many convinced that they have a ghostly guest at home, it’s not surprising that it’s influencing some house buyers’ decision on whether to move into a property.
“If you’re looking at a house to move into and something feels ‘off’, it might be worth making sure that the proper surveys have been done.
“Your sixth sense may be warning you of a costly surprise in the future – such as a structural issue or damp in the walls.”
