Spaniards 'happy with their homes', especially location, light, size and comfort

The majority - 82.3% - gave their homes a rating of 7.69 out of 10, with over a third saying they most liked the area their property was situated in, just under a quarter saying its amount of natural light was what made them happiest about their houses or apartments, and one in five putting its size top of the list of its assets.

Comfort was most valued by 17.3%.

Main concerns when choosing a home to live in included, in two-thirds of cases for each, the fixtures and fittings working  properly and being in a good state of repair, and its insulation against noise and smells, whilst 59.2% were most conscious about how safe the property is.

What the property is like for actual daily living, including being pleasing to the eye, has become one of the top concerns when choosing a new home with 28.5% saying the decoration scheme was important to them, 26% basing their choice on how comfortable the house or flat is, and 12.6% looking at practical aspects.

For six in 10 Spaniards, the relationship between their home and the environment has come into focus more in the last five years - nearly a third have taken steps to save energy and natural resources such as water.

Environmental aspects are more important to the 25 to 34 age-group with children and living in large towns or cities of between 50,000 and half a million inhabitants than to any other segment interviewed.

With the economic crisis, Spanish homeowners are becoming more practical and willing to get their hands dirty - 41.2% are more inclined to carry out DIY than call in a trader, with women in general concerned with home decorating and men seeking to improve practical aspects of the property.

In terms of type of property, for nearly half of those surveyed - 48% - the different life-stages of their children influenced the home they would choose or renovations or repairs carried out in it.

The birth of a first child had the greatest impact on home choices, with 22.7% admitting this would condition the type of property they sought to buy or the work they carried out in it, and children leaving home in second place, at 17.8%.

Additionally, selling a home and buying a new one, is likely to be caused by having to take care of a dependent relative in 38.7% of cases.

The financial crisis has led to a greater consciousness about saving electricity and water, and 54.8% say they carry out as much of their own repairs, renovations and redecorations as they can rather than paying an outside contractor to do so.