When you move into a new home, what’s the first thing you splash out on? Are you keen to make your place feel more homely with new furniture, or do you want to make changes to the fixtures and fittings?

Ideal Home recently shared research by LED Hut which indicates that it’s the latter. On average, Brits spend £1,800 on new furniture in their first two years in a new property, compared to £3,500 on new fixtures and fittings.

Ecommerce and marketing director at the organisation Paul Garner said the survey indicates that “savvy homebuyers are making decisions with more long-term benefits”.

The reasons behind upgrading fixtures and fittings varied, but the most common justifications for the expense were that it added value to the property and made it feel newer.

These kinds of jobs also tend to be quite disruptive, so it’s sensible to do things like hire plastering companies in Manchester when you’ve got a blank canvas rather than when you’ve unpacked everything and have a lot of things to move around.

Mr Garner also pointed out that you’re less likely to go back to updating fixtures and fittings once you’ve bought new furniture, so it makes sense to budget for these changes now, rather than planning to do them several years down the line.

Of course, with the average cost of moving home in the UK now £12,000, it’s important to start saving early and budget for any work you want to do in your new home. Although that figure includes stamp duty, you shouldn’t underestimate the expense of moving to a new property.