Study Details U.K. Borrower Movement Motivation

Almost 217,000 mortgage borrowers in the United Kingdom that moved in the past two years did it primarily to get a better home, but the main motivation of a smaller but significant subset of others was to get away from annoying neighbors, according to new research by Santander U.K.'s Abbey Mortgages division. About 95,000 of the 680,000 mortgage borrowers the Council of Mortgage Lenders said moved in the past two years did it because they disliked the people they had been living near, according to Abbey. Other significant borrower motivations included a need for more space, about 136,000; finding one's dream home, 108,000; downsizing, 102,000; and moving into an area with better schools, 40,800. Layoffs and financial woes forced about 6,800 to move.