82% of UK adults regularly tune in for at least one home show on TV

Hammonds Furniture publishes its findings from an analysis showing that 82% of UK adults regularly tune in for at least one home show on TV.

Key findings from study:
    • Grand Designs took the top spot
    • Escape to the Chateau and A Place in the Sun took joint second place 
    • Seeing home renovations unfold, getting some design inspiration, and having a ‘nosy’ inside other people’s homes are the top reasons the nation loves this TV genre 
    • A psychologist explains the reasoning behind Britain’s home TV addiction 
    • More information about this study can be found here.

It’s a good day for Channel4 and Kevin McCloud as Grand Designs has been named the UK’s top home and property TV show, according to new research by Hammonds Furniture. 

The study, which included a survey of 2,000 UK adults as well as each show’s IMDb rating and online popularity score, placed Escape to the Chateau and A Place in the Sun in joint second in the table. 

The nation’s top twelve favourite home and property TV shows: 

1. Grand Designs (Channel4/All4) 

2=. A Place in the Sun (Channel4/All4)

2=. Escape to the Chateau (Channel4/All4) 

4=. Homes Under the Hammer (BBC)

4=. DIY SOS (BBC) 

6. Escape to the Country (BBC) 

7. George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel4/All4) 

8. Location, Location, Location (Channel4/All4) 

9. The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes (BBC) 

10. Property Brothers (W Network) 

11. Love It or List It (Channel4/All4) 

12. Marriage or Mortgage (Netflix) 

While BBC day-time TV classic, Homes Under the Hammer won the poll, with 39% of votes, Channel4 favourites Grand Designs and Escape to the Chateau both had much higher IMDB review ratings (8.5 and 8.6/10) and A Place in the Sun was the most popular online, with 74,000 monthly searches on Google. 

More than eight in ten (82%) Brits claim to regularly watch at least one home show on TV, and for the majority (51%) it’s the process of seeing a property renovation project unfold before their eyes that they love the most. 

Two-fifths (42%) simply find them to be entertaining and good for a bit of escapism, and a third (35%) admitted to just being a bit nosy and enjoying being able to see inside other people’s homes. 

More women love to look inside other people’s homes than men though, with over two fifths (42%) of women naming this as a reason they watch home TV shows compared to just over a quarter of men (28%). 

Why Brits LOVE home and property TV shows:
    • “I enjoy seeing home being renovated” (51%) 
    • “I find them entertaining” (42%) 
    • “I like having a nosey inside other people’s homes” (35%) 
    • “I use them for inspiration/ideas for my own home” (32%) 
    • “I enjoy architecture” (28%) 
    • “I like seeing what homes are like abroad” (25%) 
    • “I like finding out about the process of buying and selling homes” (24%) 
    • “I find them aspirational” (21%) 
    • “I like the hosts” (20%) 

Three in ten (32%) said they watch these to get design inspiration for their own indoor and outdoor living spaces. 

Brits aged 35-44 are the most interested in these shows, with nine in ten (90%) tuning in for at least one property series. 

Gen Z’ers (aged 18-24) are the most likely to find them very ‘binge-able’ (22%) and watch home shows on streaming platforms like Netflix. 

Dennis Relojo-Howell, Managing Director of psychology website Psychreg, explained why the nation loves this genre of television so much:  

“We love to see spaces given new life on TV because we all have areas of our homes that we hope to transform – especially since the lockdowns provided us with more time to reorganise our indoor spaces. But even prior to Covid, the open space concept in domestic projects held a certain allure. 

“Aside from reorganising our homes, we are also drawn to property platforms; we spend time on Rightmove or Zoopla for fantasy window shopping or perhaps just to see what’s on offer. It’s simply because as humans we’re just plain old curious, and we always look for ideas. And, more importantly, because we need to dream. Maybe you aren’t a homeowner, or maybe you aren’t living where you thought you would or where you want to – we can still dream about the house we might one day have. 

“We are also more likely to be drawn to property programmes like A Place in the Sun, and Location, Location, Location where we watch people go and shop for a new home, because ‘home shopping’, just like other forms of shopping, can boost serotonin.” 

Kirsty Oakes, Head of Product and Marketing at Hammonds Furniture, added: 

“It’s interesting to see which home and property TV shows we love the most, and why we get satisfaction from watching these types of programmes.

“It’s great to see the various places we look for home ideas, whether that’s window shopping via Pinterest, online property platforms or even through our television screen. At Hammonds we encourage people to search for plenty of design inspiration before they decide on any new features in their home, being able to visualise what you’re looking for will ultimately aid you in building your dream home!” 

 

Kindly shared by Hammonds Furniture

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay