The sound of a doorbell when you are not expecting anyone can mean only one thing – you just got unexpected visitors. Who is it? What do they want? Is it something important? But the house is a mess. What do most people do? Do they open the door or simply pretend they are not home? According to the results of a survey by London Cleaning System, not opening the door is not an option for most Brits.
Over 60% of Brits Open the Door to Unannounced Guests
Even though as much as 86% of respondents said they don’t like receiving unexpected guests, more than 60% of surveyed Brits open the door, with another 26.7% noting that it depends on who it is. However, nearly 10% of those who said they open the door added that they rather wouldn’t but can’t because the car, dog or other things give them away. Only 12.6% of respondents never open the door to people popping around unannounced.
Dirty Dishes the Most Common Cause of Embarrassment
London Cleaning System found that many Brits who open the door to uninvited guests prefer if they didn’t have to when their home doesn’t look its best. Furthermore, as much as 77% of respondents said they were embarrassed by the mess, with the majority feeling ashamed because of dirty dishes (66%). Other commonly cited embarrassing messes included children’s toys being shattered all over, stained carpet and limescale build-up in toilet.
Londoners are the Least Likely to Open the Door to Unexpected Guests
Analysing the responses by regions, the cleaning company researchers got some very interesting results. They found that of all respondents those living in Greater London are the least likely to open the door if they don’t expect anyone (19.4%), followed by the South West (14.5%), the West Midlands (13.9%) and the South East (13.8%). Survey respondents living in the East of England, on the other hand, are most likely to open the door (68%), followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (66%) and the North East (64.5%).
North Easterners Most Likely to be Ashamed by Mess
The North East was also found to have the highest percentage of those saying they were ashamed by the mess – 84%. Messy homes were also found to be very embarrassing for respondents living in the East of England (79%) and the West Midlands (77%). It is important to note, however, that this doesn’t necessarily mean homes in those regions are the messiest in England. Instead, the results suggest that respondents living in the North East, the East of England and the West Midlands are particularly sensitive about cleanliness/tidiness of their home when receiving guests, even if these are unannounced.
