Envy moves up property ladder

IT'S what fuels the housing market - our constant desire to move to a bigger home in a better neighbourhood.

In a materialistic society, climbing the property ladder is seen as a sign of our rising status.

But a study has found that moving to your dream home can soon turn into a nightmare because we become so envious of our new, more affluent neighbours that we end up unhappier than ever before.

This desire to 'keep up with the Joneses' can cause bitter unhappiness, discontent and rows, the report said.

Jealousy can even lead families to cut back on treats or do without essentials so they can splash out on a status symbol car or expensive building work to match the new neighbourhood.

The study of 10,000 adults found that, soon after moving, homeowners start comparing their possessions with their neighbours' and quickly become jealous and resentful.

Report author Erzo Luttmer, an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University, said: 'If you take two people with the same characteristics - both married, same age and earning £30,000 a year - if one has richer neighbours he will feel far worse off than one who lives in an area where his neighbours are slightly poorer than him.'

Although the study was carried out in the US, British experts believe the entrenched class system and our deep-rooted suspicion about new money mean the findings are even more pertinent to the UK.

Dr Ruth Lea, director of the think- tank the Centre for Policy Studies, said the findings were 'unsurprising' given the materialistic nature of society.

She said: 'A lot of people's happiness is relative to other people, especially if they are obsessed by material possessions. In many cases, when people move into an expensive or better property, they think they are going to be so much happier.

'They think it's going to be great having four bedrooms instead of three and having a designer bathroom and kitchen. It's all about moving up in the world, which is understandable. But when they actually get there, the green-eyed monster is hiding round the corner.'

Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Alan Norris said his work with patients at Birmingham's Nuffield Hospital showed money did not buy happiness.

He said: 'The difference between people who are happy in life and those who are not, is not that the people who are happy have all the money, the best houses and the most property. It's something about their outlook on life and the way they see themselves and their own situation.'

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