Could you fall in love with a home without seeing it? 1 in 5 Brits think they could

As the new season of Love Is Blind hits Netflix this Valentine’s Day, it seems that some Brits are taking the concept of love, (sight unseen) to a whole new level, when it comes to finding their dream home.

New research from Rightmove, the UK’s largest property website, reveals that one in five Brits admit they could fall in love with a home without ever seeing it.

In a survey of more than 1,000 people, 22% of respondents said it was likely they’d be able to fall in love with a home based solely on a well written description or a floorplan, but without physically viewing it, or seeing any photos.

Much like the contestants on Love Is Blind, who form relationships based solely on emotional connections, it seems some house-hunters are open to forming a strong bond with the right home, based on words rather than images.

However, falling in love is one thing – as the contestants on Love is Blind find out, going through with the marriage is another. Rightmove’s research showed far fewer people were open to going all the way through with a property purchase blindly.

Just 3% of respondents said they’d be comfortable buying a property without viewing it or seeing photos and only reading a well-written description.

The responses back up Rightmove’s own data on the importance of great property imagery.

Listings that have more than five photos included sell four days faster than those that don’t on average, while agents that prioritise making sure a floorplan is included are typically met with a 10% increase in interested buyers, compared with those that don’t.

Steve Pimblett, Chief Data Officer at Rightmove adds, “Is property love blind? Probably not, but the one in five who think they could fall in love with a home based on words rather than images highlight the power of a well-written property listing, which captures the information that buyers are looking for.

“Great images can set a property listing apart from the competition, capturing a home in all its glory and captivating the imagination of someone thinking of living there. Make sure to follow your estate agent’s advice when it comes to taking great photos and preparing the home for viewings, as they’ll be able to show the home in its very best light.”

ENDS

About the survey

• The survey responses were collected within Rightmove’s research panel, ‘The Living Room’. 1386 respondents took part

About Rightmove

• Rightmove has the UK’s largest selection of properties for sale and to rent, adds more listings than anyone else, and over 80% of all time spent on property portals is on Rightmove.
• Rightmove’s vision is to give everyone the belief that they can make their move by giving people the best place to turn and return to for access to tools and expertise to make it happen.
• People can search Rightmove for residential resale, new homes, rentals, commercial property and overseas properties and use tools and information including getting a Mortgage in Principle, checking local sold prices, property valuations, market trends, maps and schools.
• Customers include the following key groups: estate agents, lettings agents, new homes developers, rental operators, commercial property operators and overseas property agents.
• Using the UK’s largest housing datasets, we issue a number of regular reports to track housing market indicators: our monthly House Price Index (established 2002), our quarterly Rental Trends Tracker (established 2015), a weekly Mortgage Rates Tracker (established 2023) and a quarterly Commercial Insights Tracker (2024). Historical data is available on request.
• Founded in 2000, Rightmove listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 and is a member of the FTSE 100 index.
• For more information, please visit rightmove.co.uk/claims