New research by comparethemarket.com has revealed that over the last five years, Brits have spent an average of £10,461.59 on home improvements, with almost a quarter of that being used for the kitchen (£2,293.64).
The money would seem to be well spent, as Britons put their culinary skills to good use, spending some 766.5 hours per year in their kitchens.
The room where we spend the most time is the master bedroom, which sees 2,482 of our hours per year. The time spent is not quite reflected in money spent, however, with Brits spending an average of £308.51 updating the room each year.
With more people working from home than ever before, the home office has seen people spend 1,204.5 hours per year in that room. Since the beginning of lockdown in March 2020, £213.21 has been spent on doing up the home office.
The survey also looked specifically at the surge in overall home renovations which took place during the lockdown, finding that Brits spent a total of £1,210.35 sprucing up their homes with the three most expensive rooms for renovations being:
Living Room (£214.49)
Office/Study (£213.21)
Kitchen/Dining Room (£210.69)
The research also highlighted interesting regional findings. While Londoners spent the most on their homes in the last five years (£12,236.86), people from Newcastle topped the list of those who splashed the most cash on renovations during lockdown:
Newcastle (£1,561.41)
Bristol (£1,338.50)
London (£1,322.82)
Edinburgh (£1,281.72)
Belfast (£1,269.50)
Out of 15 cities, people from Leeds were found to spend the most time in both the kitchen (2.5 hours per day) and the master bedroom (7.6 hours per day).
Chris King, head of home insurance at comparethemarket.com, said: “Many of us have spent significantly more time in our homes this year so it’s natural that people will want to update their living spaces. This research highlights just how much we invest in our homes and ultimately how important it is that you have comprehensive home insurance to financially protect the home and belongings.”
