It seems we are a nation of Hyacinth Buckets with 1 in 5 people owning up to updating their home to keep up with their neighbours.

Research found Britons would admit to spending a total of £18.4 billion to 'keep up with the neighbours', and the most popular items people bought were plasma TV/ DVD player, BBQ/ garden equipment, kitchen gadgets, conservatory/ home extension or a better car.

The research by MORE TH>N, a leading household insurer, shows that in order to get one up on their neighbours, Britons are increasingly filling their living rooms with luxury items such as home entertainment centres, MP3 players and modern furniture.

A typical living room is now worth over £5,000 and is the most valuable room in the house. Kitchens can add more than £4,000 to a home's contents with many gadgets such as bread makers, cappuccino machines and food processors.

Gardens and sheds are other areas where people are adding value to improve their social status in the neighbourhood. Garden furniture, top of the range BBQs and power tools kept in the shed can often reach a value of approximately £2,000.

Steve Kingshott, Head of household insurance comments: "Many people are falling prey to the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ effect, driving them to frequently update high value goods in the home in order to be one step ahead of the game.”

“This is not only restricted to households goods, but to other items such as designer clothing that help boost the value of home contents.”

“With the increase in average earnings outpacing growth in prices for goods and leading to a consumer credit boom, homeowners are more easily able to finance purchases of high value household goods.”

"An increase in the number of appliances in our home has also added to the value of the contents and we often find a TV and stereo in each bedroom, and even the kitchen in some homes."

It is also common for manufacturers to frequently update their products to lure previous buyers into thinking the latest version of a product is the new 'must-have'.

Recent examples of product upgrades include Dyson vacuums and game consoles such as the Playstation 2.