Property renovation shows have got us spending big on sprucing up our homes.

According to a new study, the average UK homeowner spends £1,750 a year on renovations and maintenance thanks to the likes of Location, Location, Location.

Home owners in the south east were even bigger spenders, splashing out £1,900 per year on average, second only to Londoners (£1,950), while those in Northern Ireland were the most restrained (£1,600).

The study, conducted by online window blind provider Web-blinds.com, polled 2,069 UK home owners aged 21 and over.

The average respondent watched six hours per week of property shows, the most popular being Location, Location, Location (67 per cent), followed by Grand Designs (53 per cent), and Amazing Spaces (44 per cent).

91 per cent believed that watching property or renovation programmes had directly inspired them to update their own homes, with open-plan room remodelling (29 per cent), kitchen revamping (21 per cent) and colour scheme changes (17 per cent) being the most popular results.

24 per cent of those questioned confessed to having previously cancelled plans in order to stay home and clean, while seven per cent had given away – or were considering giving away – a family pet that they felt made their home untidy.

38 per cent said they made guests take their shoes off before coming in, while 34 per cent said they refused to let visitors in if their house wasn’t sufficiently tidy.

Kirsty Martin, spokesperson for Wen-blinds.com, said: “It’s lovely that people take pride in their home – it says a lot about their character. But it seems pride might be turning into obsession for the avid viewers of property renovation TV shows and for some it’s even beginning to affect their social life. It’s important to remember that no matter how good a home looks it’s ultimately meant for living in.

“Our new Hooked on Homes site, about property in the media, takes each visitor on an interactive journey and aims to highlight just how much property television shows in the media have evolved over the years to become such a crucial part of our national viewing. We uncovered some surprising stats, including the fact that there is an average of 312 property shows shown on TV in a normal week, but 96 per cent are repeats.”