Our homes reflect a lot about us – and because we are all so different it can be very easy to judge others on where and how they choose to live. Whether it’s their style and furnishings – from wallpaper design to freestanding baths - the smell or even what they’re watching on TV, although we may not say it, we all probably have an opinion on someone’s house when we are invited round as a guest.
We dug a little deeper to find out what aspects of people’s home others would judge them on, whether our curious nature has driven us to snoop around, and if anyone is guilty of googling the price tag.
We used the results to reveal which cities in the UK are most judgmental when it comes to our homes.
To work it out we collated the following:
- % who would judge someone on the appearance of their home
- % who would judge someone on the contents of their home
- % who have gone snooping around someone’s home
- % who have looked up the price of someone’s home
We broke our 16 major cities into rankings for each factor – then took their average position to determine where we can find the UK’s most judgmental residents. Check out where your city came below:
1. London
Average position: 1.25
- 84% judge on the appearance
- 72% judge on the contents
- 49% have gone snooping
- 55% have looked up the price
Yes, it turns out the capital are the most judgmental when it comes to people’s home. In fact, London came out on top for almost every factor used in the study. Over one-in-five Londoners judge people on the appearance of their home, with over 30% saying that a house can even be ‘too clean’. Over half (55%) admitted to googling the price, and you may want to be wary of your date in London - nearly one-in-five said they have looked up the price of someone they’re seeing’s house.
2. Cardiff
Average position: 3
- 91% judge on the appearance
- 71% judge on the contents
- 31% have gone snooping
- 53% have looked up the price
Next, we turn to Wales. The Welsh capital came in closely behind London with a huge 91% saying they would judge someone for how their home looked, with 64% being particularly opinionated on the smell. Although they are not big snoopers, 53% have looked up the price of someone’s house, with 20% admitting to doing research on their neighbours’ property.
3. Glasgow
Average position: 5
- 83% judge on the appearance
- 64% judge on the contents
- 34% have gone snooping
- 46% have looked up the price
Glasgow came out as Scotland’s most judgmental city. Over four-in-five have an opinion on someone based on the look of their home – and 64% are judging its contents. Their biggest peeves when it came to the interior were pet hair (29%) and dirty dishes (32%). You might also want to be aware that nearly one-in-six (16%) Glaswegians have gone snooping in someone’s bathroom cabinets.
=4. Leeds
Average position: 5.75
- 80% judge on the appearance
- 65% judge on the contents
- 34% have gone snooping
- 44% have looked up the price
We have a tie for fourth, first comes Leeds. The Yorkshire city ranked highly across all the factors that cover judging someone’s home. Organisation and décor are important to people from Leeds with 35% saying they would judge someone on how organised their home is, and 31% saying the same for how it’s decorated. Locals to Leeds are also self-conscious when it comes to where they live. Half (50%) said they’re worried about people’s opinion on their home, and 33% have hidden items to avoid being judged.
=4. Edinburgh
Average position: 5.75
- 83% judge on the appearance
- 69% judge on the contents
- 31% have gone snooping
- 41% have looked up the price
Joint fourth with Leeds, and not far behind Glasgow, is Edinburgh. Although they’re less likely to look up a price tag, the Scottish capital is one of the most judgmental cities when it comes to the appearance and contents of a home. 81% said a dirty or untidy house would make them think less of someone, with the kitchen (52%) being most important to keep clean. A further 26% said they would judge someone for living in a cheap neighbourhood and 24% said the same if the house itself looked cheap.
6. Birmingham
Average position: 7.25
- 78% judge on the appearance
- 63% judge you on the contents
- 36% have gone snooping
- 41% have looked up the price
Birmingham is the second most notorious for snooping in the UK. Over a third have taken a look around someone’s house, with the popular spots for having a snoop being the fridge (18%), kitchen cupboards (14%) and bathroom cabinets (14%). Over one-in-five (22%) of Brummies also admitted looking up the price of their friend’s home.
=7. Sheffield
Average position: 9
- 79% judge on the appearance
- 70% judge on the contents
- 27% have gone snooping
- 38% have looked up the price
The steel city is one of the most judgmental towns when it comes to the contents of our homes. Sheffield is the city in the UK where people are most likely to be opinionated about your teabags, with over one-in-ten (11%) saying someone’s choice of tea was enough to judge them on. 14% also said they would judge someone on their collection of DVDs, CDs or books.
=7. Bristol
Average position: 9
- 78% judge on appearance
- 64% judge on contents
- 30% have gone snooping
- 41% have looked up the price
Joint on average position with Sheffield is Bristol. If you’re from the Southern city, there is a good chance your neighbours have checked out your spending - or maybe you’re the guilty party yourself. Over a quarter (26%) admitted to researching the price of a neighbour’s home. In Bristol, one-in-ten (11%) people also said they’re guilty of snooping in someone’s wardrobe.
9. Newcastle
Average position: 9.25
- 83% judge on the appearance
- 66% judge on the contents
- 26% have gone snooping
- 39% have looked up the price
Geordies aren’t likely to go snooping around your home, but they can be quite opinionated about its appearance and contents. 61% judge people on the smell of their home, 32% judge on décor and 23% said their opinion would be influenced by the choice of furniture. Aside from the interior, over a third (35%) of people from Newcastle said they would judge someone for the neighbourhood they live in.
10. Norwich
Average position: 9.75
- 83% judge on the appearance
- 67% judge on the contents
- 23% have gone snooping
- 29% have looked up the price
Despite being the city where people are least likely to worry about the price tag, Norwich made it into the top 10 because it is the third most judgmental when it comes to appearance. It was the kitchen that people from Norwich are particularly opinionated about. 54% said they would think less of someone if they had an untidy kitchen, 37% said the same for dirty dishes, and the kitchen cupboards were the place most people had gone snooping.
Methodology:
The overall ranking for each city was calculated by finding percentile scores for the location based on the following factors.
- The % of people who would judge someone on the appearance of their home
- The % of people who would judge someone on the contents of their home
- The % who have snooped in someone’s home
- The % who have looked up the price of someone’s home online
To get the data, we surveyed 2,000 people from the UK. The cities were put into a ranking based on their percentile score for each factor, and their average position was used to determine the UK’s most judgmental cities when it comes to our homes.
