Young consumers flip to bungalows as a less expensive strategy to personal a household residence
- Searches for bungalows have soared 53% within the final twenty years
- Young bungalow consumers are sharing their renovation recommendations on TikTok
- Although cheaper than some homes, their reputation means costs have soared
You may think the preferred property searches right this moment can be for a metropolis centre residence or a household pleasant home within the suburbs.
But in truth the reply is the standard bungalow — the single-storey residence that is having fun with a brand new lease of life.
Research by Confused.com Mortgages reveals the proportion of web searches for single-storey properties has soared by 53 per cent in 20 years, whereas DIY-ers are taking to social media to point out off their fashionable twists on the standard bungalow.
There are greater than 100 million TikTok views for movies about refurbished bungalows and 129,000 Instagram reels and posts tagged #bungalowrenovation.
Back in style: Bungalows typically have massive gardens and provide privateness. Increased competitors from older and youthful consumers, vying with builders, means costs are hovering
There are a couple of locations the place bungalows are plentiful — in East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, for instance, nearly 24,000 of the 71,280 houses are bungalows — however in most areas they’re changing into more and more uncommon as builders snap them up, ship within the bulldozers and construct bigger properties of their place.
Just 1,833 bungalows have been constructed within the UK in 2019/20, equating to only one per cent of the full variety of houses constructed.
The motive for that is most builders need to maximise income from a plot of land by constructing a big home or block of flats.
Nick Cunningham of Stacks Property Search, a shopping for company, says: ‘There’s large demand for bungalows, particularly from these trying to keep away from the expense of shifting once more once they’re older. “We’re only interested in looking at bungalows” is one thing I’m listening to extra typically.’
Jeremy Leaf, former chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, provides: ‘There’s a powerful aspiration to purchase a bungalow from these downsizing as a result of a two or extra storey home could not swimsuit their way of life, but they are not able to reside in a flat. A bungalow is a midway home.’
Experts say a bungalow with a excessive roof ridge line affords potential for 2 bedrooms and a toilet on the ‘first-and-a-half’ ground — superb for visiting household.
Just earlier than the pandemic, a survey by retirement housing agency McCarthy & Stone discovered that 60 per cent of over-65s would think about shifting to a bungalow.
This is a tremendous success story for a kind of residence that first appeared on this nation 100 years in the past.
Bungalows started as huts constructed by Nineteenth-century Indian peasants; they have been spruced up throughout the Raj to deal with British officers; then they got here to Britain within the Nineteen Twenties.
After World War II, they have been thought of good high quality, low-cost houses, superior to ‘pre-fabs’, and have become the housing equal of a nationwide treasure.
Many brokers now report the bungalow having fun with a Twenty first-century renaissance with utterly various kinds of consumers.
‘Single-storey new houses are extra fascinating architecturally and have much better vitality effectivity than bungalows constructed within the Sixties.
‘Lateral residing is now not only for downsizing or retirees however is an lively way of life change for more and more youthful consumers,’ explains Charlotte Moxon of the Strutt & Parker property company.
Bungalow costs on the rise
Increased competitors for bungalows from older and youthful consumers, vying with builders, means costs are hovering.
Confused.com says the standard London bungalow value is £606,000 — a 3rd greater than the common £446,000 for a purpose-built flat or maisonette — whereas within the South West, a bungalow at a mean £389,000 is approaching twice the common residence price.
Despite excessive costs, bungalows are comparatively reasonably priced when in comparison with household homes, so they’re being seized upon by extra imaginative younger consumers.
‘Detached bungalows have fewer supporting partitions, so homeowners really feel like they’re residing open-plan.
‘They additionally provide escape from noisy neighbours in semi-detached and terraced houses’ says Confused’s mortgage professional, Claire Flynn.
Experts predict the houses will grow to be a buy-to-let selection for funding consumers because the age profile of renters ramps up.
The bungalow has reinvented itself with new demographics — and in doing so has grow to be the good property to reside in.
On the market… Bungalows
Cheshire: A 3-bedroom residence near village of Tarvin with gardens extending to only over an acre. Five miles from Chester. Jackson Stops, 01244 328 361. £650,000
Rutland: Situated on the sting of the market city of Oakham, this spacious property has three bedrooms and a storage. Fine & Country, 01780 750 200. £730,000
Berkshire: This two-bedroom indifferent bungalow is situated in a gated neighborhood comprised of 14 houses in Pangbourne. Strutt & Parker, 0118 217 0446. £675,000
