ONE in five Britons only clean their home when they are expecting company, a new survey reveals.

The study by home interiors specialist hillarys.co.uk asked 2,396 Brits about their cleaning habits.

While 22 per cent said they clean their home thoroughly each week, 21 per cent only do so when they are expecting house guests.

Cleaning the oven is the task done the least, on average every 11 months, following by dusting, cleaning windows and mirrors and cleaning the bathroom.

Overall, 86 per cent said they did not believe they cleaned their home frequently enough.

The top five answers when people were asked how often they thoroughly cleaned their homes were:

1. Every week – 22 per cent

2. Only when I’m expecting guests/visitors – 21 per cent

3. Once a month – 17 per cent

4. Once a fortnight – 12 per cent

5. Every few months or so – 11 per cent

Just over half (51 per cent) said they normally ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to clean, 32 per cent said they ‘didn’t have enough free time’ for a thorough clean, and the remaining 17 per cent said they ‘felt too overwhelmed’ by the mess in their homes.

Tara Hall, spokesperson for hillarys.co.uk, said:

“By cleaning the home only for guests, it sounds like many of us are more concerned about ‘keeping up appearances’ then actually enjoying life in a tidy home.”