Yahoo Finance Brits would rather live next to Aldi or Lidl than Waitrose or M&S
Lidl, Camden, UK. Photo: Richard Gardner/REX/Shutterstock
More people would rather live by a budget supermarket like Aldi or Lidl than expensive rivals Waitrose and Mark’s & Spencer, according to a survey published Friday.
Research by property buyer Good Move has revealed the amenities Brits really want in their local area, and the results are surprising.
Nearly two in five (39%) UK adults said it is desirable to live near an Aldi or Lidl, while less than a third (32%) said they’d prefer to live within walking distance of a high-end supermarket.
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This is despite figures from Lloyd’s Bank in 2018 that show living near a Waitrose or Mark’s & Spencer can push the value of your home up by over £40,000 — what is known as the “Waitrose effect.”
Aldi and Lidl are Britain’s fastest growing supermarkets as of March 2018, showing Britons’ love of bargains. “Big Four” supermarkets Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s have been forced to slash prices after the pair enjoyed their highest ever Christmas market share in the 12 weeks leading up to December 30.
Brits would even rather live near a budget supermarket than a good school. Just 29% of respondents said that they’d move for a certain school catchment area.
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While women are more likely than men to be concerned about education choices, with 31% and 25% respectively considering the quality of local schools, both genders still ranked budget supermarkets higher on their list of priorities.
The desire for deals appears strongest among younger generations. While more than half (54%) of 18 to 24-year-olds said they want to live near a budget supermarket, just 34% of those over 45 shared the same view.
“Everyone has their own priorities when moving house, but it’s interesting to see how the overall patterns are changing,” Ross Counsell, director at Good Move, said.
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“Budget supermarkets are definitely growing in popularity, especially among the younger generations, and their presence in a region is now making a place more desirable to live.”
However, when asked specifically about which stores they’d like to have nearby, Brits crowned Tesco top of the shops. More than a fifth selected the store, followed by Asda (17%) and Aldi (14%).
Top of the overall list of priorities was a scenic view, with 44% of all adults saying that they’d prefer a property with attractive surroundings.
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Other desirable local amenities included restaurants and bars (37%), traditional pubs nearby (36%), independent shops (34%), walking trails (33%), coffee shops (28%), and a library (25%).
The study also revealed what Brits first research when they move to a new area. When asked what details they seek out about a location before anything else, over a fifth (21%) of respondents said public transport connections, showing the nation’s desire for easy travel.
Crime rates are also an important consideration (17%), but men are more concerned about such statistics than women (21% and 14% respectively). Other concerns included schools (20%), amenities (17%), and broadband speed (11%).
