An Englishman's home may be his castle, but the average Brit is happy to live in the suburbs. And as for escaping the drizzle to live on some sun soaked foreign shore, most would rather stay put in Blighty.

These are just two findings from Legal & General's new "Home Sweet Home" survey which looks at our housing hopes, attitudes and expectations.

The study shows that our love affair with our houses is a complicated, contradictory business. For many, we have little attachment to our homes, with 56.9% planning to move on within five years. Being in a 'sought after area' is therefore far more important than living close to friends, work, schools, knowing the neighbours or being able to park easily.

And while most of us admit to having a 'dream house', aspiration is tinged with realism with a detached house in the suburbs proving nearly as appealing, if less obviously romantic, as the ubiquitous 'house in the country'... and far more popular than the ‘trendy’ urban lofts favoured by adverts and ‘Sex in the City’. Only 5% of us would like to live in a castle.

Although one in five of us feel that buying a dream home will forever remain just that - a dream, there are signs of optimism and enthusiasm, which suggest that there is more to the market than just investment and inflation.

30% of us not only imagine having a dream home, we think we'll achieve it between the ages of 35 and 44. Nearly one in five have ambitions to design or build their own home and 71% of us would have it in Britain. It might be because this is a friendly place to live: 55% claim to know their neighbours "quite” or "very well" - confounding expectations that a sense of community is less important these days than off-street parking.

Legal & General's Head of Marketing for Home Insurance, Andy Sampson, said: “Suburbia has for a long time been the butt of jokes, but our survey shows that in reality it is an appealing option for the majority of us who still have to commute to work and have growing families.”

“People are actually quite realistic about their dream home but haven't lost their optimism or imagination - as the large number of people who want to design and build their own home shows.”

Searching for a Dream Home

• Nearly a third of Britons believe they will stay in their current home for less than 5 years and that they will own their dream home by their mid-forties.
• A sought after area is the most significant factor (19%) behind house purchases; good transport links (18%) and a quiet location (14%) were also high up the decision list.

• Whilst moving abroad may seem like a dream scenario, (72%) simply want to stay put in Britain.
• Kent (7%), Surrey (7%), Essex (5%), Dorset (5%) and Cornwall (4%) rating as the most desirable places to live.

• Australia and New Zealand are the top fantasy foreign home choices; In the EU, Italy is the most desirable country to live (18%), whilst France (15%) and Spain (11%) are also popular choices.

• We're friendlier than we think: 55% of know our neighbours well or very well.
• We might be getting fitter too - 60% see having a health club nearby as of importance.
• Nearly a third of us (29%) taking advice from reality home design TV shows to help turn our current abode into a Dream home.