Britons who are moving home are far more concerned about the hassle of packing and unpacking than about the danger of falling property prices, a survey shows.

British homebuyers seem to have shrugged off recent reports about falling house prices, with only four per cent of people saying that a possible fall in house prices is the most stressful thing about moving, according to Alliance & Leicester's quarterly ‘movingimproving’ index. In contrast, 27 per cent of people cited packing and unpacking their possessions as the most stressful aspect of moving into a new property.

The second biggest cause of stress in moving home is the concern that the deal will fall through, with 15 per cent citing a broken property chain as their main fear when moving.

Finding a way through the mortgage maze is the greatest burden when moving home for eight per cent of people. Dealing with solicitors is the biggest worry for six per cent of homebuyers and the same number cite dealing with estate agents as their biggest nightmare when it comes to moving.

Paul Cooper, Head of Mortgages at Alliance & Leicester, commented, “Many people find moving one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Given the recent speculation about house prices, you might expect that people would have been more concerned about the value of their new home falling. But the biggest worry for homebuyers is getting through the move with their nerves and crockery intact."

Key Findings of A&L’s survey:

• Whilst finance-related issues might be expected to account for high levels of stress amongst homebuyers, it is more trivial issues that topped the poll, with more than one in four (27 per cent) people claiming that they would find packing, unpacking and cleaning the most stressful part of their move.
• In what could be a reflection of whose shoulders the arduous task of cleaning a new property and packing and unpacking often falls on, women find this a far greater cause of stress than men (31 per cent vs. 23 per cent).
• Despite numerous reports of property prices levelling out or even falling in some parts of the UK, a mere four per cent of Britons see the notion that the value of their new property might fall as the most stressful part of moving home, although this rises to six per cent of those in their 30s.
• The danger of collapsing chains and deals falling through was the second biggest source of concern, with 15 per cent of people saying this is the most stressful aspect of moving.
• Married people are almost twice as likely to see the danger of their chain falling through as the biggest cause of stress than single homebuyers (19 per cent vs. 10 per cent) are. However, 12 per cent of singletons worry about finding the right mortgage compared to only seven per cent of those who are married.
• Dealing with solicitors was the most stressful aspect of moving for six per cent of people whilst dealing with estate agents was most traumatic for a further six per cent of Britons.
• Four per cent of people feel that the greatest worry when moving house is the possibility that they will find themselves living next door to noisy neighbours.

Around the nations and regions:

• The Scots (42 per cent) and the Welsh (38 per cent) are the most stressed about packing and unpacking during their move. In contrast, only 12 per cent of people in the West Midlands say that this is their main worry when moving home.
• Worries about the chain falling through and the deal breaking are greatest in the South East (22 per cent) and East Anglia (21 per cent). The Welsh are the most confident on this front, with just 5 per cent of them saying that the deal falling through is their main worry.
• Finding the right mortgage is the biggest fear for 13 per cent of Londoners, compared to just three per cent of those living in the North.
• People in the South West are most worried about dealing with solicitors, with 10 per cent of them saying this was the greatest hassle about moving. The Welsh are the most confident on this front, with only three per cent of them putting dealing with a solicitor at the top of their
  list of worries.
• The South West also has the most people (10 per cent) who cited dealing with estate agents as the most stressful thing about moving. The Scots were the most sanguine about dealing with them, with only two per cent saying that the estate agent was the thing that concerns them the most when moving.
• Worry about the potential fall in the value of their new property is the greatest stress for six per cent of movers in East Anglia and Yorkshire, but only for two per cent of people in Scotland and the South West.