Half of Brits travel eight miles or fewer when they move home
| 7th May 2019
Half of Brits travel eight miles or fewer when they move home, according to research into one of life’s most stressful experiences.
Removal specialist AnyVan.com analysed data from more than 160,000 movers over the past 12 months as it prepares for the busiest time of the year.
The longest journey was by a Hampshire resident who packed up their belongings for a bumper 820 MILE journey to a new life in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.
Figures revealed a staggering 721 families moved more than 500 miles within the UK – while almost 3,000 had a trip in excess of 100 miles.
However, the average distance for AnyVan.com’s customers was just eight miles – with one in five following the adage of ‘there’s no place like home’ and travelling just 1.5 miles or less.
Stockport residents moved the shortest distance, with data showing half of those in the Cheshire town travelled 4.3 miles or less to their new home.
And people living in York were found to travel the farthest – an average of 21.3 miles.
Liverpool residents travelled the second shortest distance, with half travelling fewer than 4.7 miles, followed by Plymouth (4.9 miles) with Bolton and Southampton both on 5.1 miles or less.
Londoners typically move seven miles, just behind Manchester (6.8 miles) and just ahead of Nottingham (7.2 miles).
The research was carried out by AnyVan.com ahead of the busiest time of the year for house moves.
It is expected around half of the firm’s enquiries will take place between May and August, with spring and summer the most popular time for home sellers.
The improved weather makes properties and gardens more enticing to buyers and it give children more time to settle into a new area ahead of a school change.
Angus Elphinstone, CEO of AnyVan.com, said: “Packing up everything and moving to another part of the country can be a daunting experience and our figures revealed that over the past 12 months almost 3,000 customers travelled more than 100 miles when they moved home.
“But while thousands decided to start a new life miles away, our research showed for most there really is no place like home.
“One in five move 1.5 miles or less. Out of our busiest areas it is Stockport residents who moved the shortest distance, with half of those in the pleasant town moving 4.3 miles or less.
“At the other end of the scale are those in York, who travel 21 miles on average, which is the equivalent of driving from the historic city to Leeds, where half the residents travel 6.5 miles or less.
“Whether it is a one-mile trip to the other side of a village or an 800 mile journey across the British Isles, moving home can be one of life’s most stressful episodes, and we’re looking forward to dealing with customers as we approach the busiest time of the year.”
More than 250 people moved in excess of 500 miles to the Scottish Highlands, with 68 travelling the same distance in the other direction, according to the findings.
One person moved the contents of their home in London to 800 miles away in Scotland, while another travelled 766 miles to Devon from the Orkney Islands.
The findings revealed there is a 1.1 mile difference between the median distance travelled by residents in Cambridge (12.7 miles) and Oxford (13.8 miles), with famous university cities both at the far end of the scale.
And the average distance is even shorter for England’s rival ‘second cities’, Manchester and Birmingham, with Brummies travelling 0.4 miles fewer than their friends in the north.
In Scotland, half of those moving home in Edinburgh travel 7.5 miles or less – almost two miles more than those in Glasgow.
The average home-mover needed 14.81 cubic metres of space to haul their possessions between homes, with Glaswegians (13.32 cubic metres) requiring the least.
Those in Northampton (16.26 cubic metres) needed the most space.
City – Median distance (miles)
Stockport – 4.3
Liverpool – 4.7
Plymouth – 4.9
Bolton – 5.1
Southampton – 5.1
Hull – 5.2
Sheffield – 5.2
Bradford – 5.4
Cardiff – 5.4
Stoke – 5.7
Glasgow – 5.8
Swindon – 6
Newcastle – 6
Preston – 6.1
Birmingham – 6.4
Leeds – 6.5
Manchester – 6.8
London – 7
Nottingham – 7.2
Edinburgh – 7.5
Derby – 7.9
Cheltenham – 8.2
Doncaster – 8.2
Colchester – 8.4
Reading – 8.5
Leicester – 8.9
Bristol – 9
Bedford – 9.4
Peterborough – 9.5
Chelmsford – 10
Lincoln – 10.3
Coventry – 10.8
Norwich – 11.1
Northampton – 11.6
Milton Keynes – 11.7
Cambridge – 12.7
Oxford – 13.8
Brighton – 14.1
Exeter – 14.3
York – 21.3
City – average volume of goods (cubic metre)
Edinburgh 13.1
Glasgow 13.32
London 13.35
Bradford 13.8
Cardiff 13.83
Sheffield 13.85
Liverpool 13.89
Leeds 13.97
Stoke 13.99
Newcastle 14.06
Manchester 14.16
Bolton 14.17
Hull 14.21
Bristol 14.32
Cheltenham 14.39
Birmingham 14.43
Cambridge 14.53
Coventry 14.63
Stockport 14.63
Nottingham 14.66
Exeter 14.8
Colchester 14.83
Preston 14.85
Plymouth 14.99
Leicester 15
York 15.00
Norwich 15.03
Reading 15.04
Derby – 15.09
Southampton 15.10
Chelmsford 15.18
Oxford 15.38
Bedford 15.41
Doncaster 15.46
Lincoln 15.49
Milton Keynes 15.57
Swindon 15.66
Peterborough 15.77
Northampton 16.26