A nationwide survey by Jitty has confirmed that 28% of Brits like to browse property sites simply to see inside the homes of people living next door — cementing our reputation as a country that loves a good snoop.
The nosiest regions are the North East and South West, where 36% of residents confess to peeking at local property listings, followed by the South East at 35%.
Neighbourly curiosity is also common in the East of England (31%), Yorkshire and the Humber (30%) and Wales (29%). In comparison, only 24% of Londoners and West Midlands residents admit to the habit, and just 19% of people in Northern Ireland say the same.
The study, conducted among 2,000 UK adults by Jitty, the UK’s AI-driven property portal, reveals that online home browsing has become a popular pastime in its own right. A quarter of people say they do it just “to be nosey”, while 27% browse aspirationally, checking what they might afford in the distant future.
And this pastime is far from superficial. The first features people examine in a listing are interior styling (41%), architectural character (38%) and room layout (33%), revealing that users scroll with the same attention as they might give a design inspiration board.
Property sharing has also become a social activity: 30% routinely send listings to friends and family on WhatsApp, and 25% say they like receiving unexpected links in return. Browsing makes many feel excited (31%), inspired (23%) or motivated (20%), proving it’s more pleasure than pressure for most.
Yet the survey also uncovers irritation with traditional property websites. Over one-third of consumers (35%) want the search experience to feel more intuitive, while 26% find themselves repeatedly shown listings that don’t match their criteria — highlighting how outdated platforms no longer align with modern browsing habits.
