67 Percent of Brits Rejected Buying a House Due to Poor Broadband

Admittedly the opening title of Vodafone’s new survey of 2,000 British adults doesn’t make a lot of sense, “ONE IN FIVE BRITS WOULD RATHER GO WITHOUT GAS OR ELECTRICITY THAN BROADBAND” (broadband requires electricity to work). But get away from the headline and are there are some useful figures.

Apparently 24% of respondents rank loss of broadband connectivity as the most frustrating home situation (above cars not starting or blocked kitchen sinks etc.) and 71% of home owners admitted they would always consider the broadband service in an area before buying a home. Indeed 67% of new home owners admitted that they have rejected buying a house because the local Internet connectivity was too poor.

Elsewhere 24% said that ensuring they have fast broadband working in a new home was more important than organising council tax or parking permits.

The top five priority utilities for new homeowners are:
1. Electricity – 53 per cent
2. Broadband – 20 per cent
3. Water – 13 per cent
4. Gas – 8 per cent
5. Council Tax – 4 per cent
6. Other – 2 per cent

At this point we’re not sure where the whole “go without.. electricity” comment comes from, but otherwise the results appear to chime very closely with a survey that we conducted last year on the importance of fast broadband to new house hunters (here).

Glafkos Persianis, Vodafone UK’s Commercial Director, said:

“Today, fast and efficient broadband at home is more of a priority than ever and this is demonstrated by the importance that people put on their internet when they first move in to their new homes.”

End.