The demise of the one bed room flat? How the primary rung of the property ladder collapsed with sellers now dealing with BIG losses

One bedroom flats are the most unloved homes in Britain right now.

Exclusive data shared with This is Money has shown they are far more likely to sell for a loss compared to larger flats or houses.

And separate figures show one beds are spending more time on the market, facing more price reductions, and receiving fewer enquiries from buyers than in the past.

Over the past six months the number of homeowners having to sell their one bed flat at a loss has skyrocketed, according to analysis of Land Registry data by property analytics firm, Bricks&Logic.

It shows that 36 per cent of one bedroom flats are now selling for less than the owner paid for them.

This compares to 25 per cent of two-plus bedroom flats selling at a loss, and only 7 per cent of houses.

It means that one bedroom flats are more than five times more likely to sell at a loss than a house. 

Many of these flats were bought as a stepping stone on to the property ladder by young homebuyers. Now some of these will be finding they are unable to afford something bigger due to the collapse in prices.

Nicholas Austin, sales manager at estate agent RiverHomes in Putney says the flat market has been ‘exceptionally depressed’ for the best part of the last decade. 

He says the pool of buyers for one bed flats is very small, and prices will need to fall further to reflect that.

‘I don’t think I’ve sold a one bedroom flat to anyone other than a first-time-buyer buying with mummy and daddy’s money for the last decade,’ says Austin.

‘They are the flats that fall through the gap in the middle. Two-bedroom flats are in demand by buyers and renters alike as the second bedroom can be used by a child, a guest or a home office. 

‘And even studio apartments are still good buy-to-let investments as they can often produce yields of seven to nine per cent. 

‘Meanwhile, one-beds are expensive for what they are so don’t produce great rental yields and they don’t have the same demand as two-bed flats. Their value will always be stunted as a result.’

Flooding the market 

The number of one bed flats listed for sale is high, according to Rightmove.

It revealed there are 20 per cent more one bed flats for sale now than there were five years ago and 42 per cent more than there were 10 years ago.

At the same time, buyer enquiries have plummeted. There are currently 42 per cent fewer buyer enquiries for one bed flats than there were five years ago, the property website said.

One beds are also taking longer to sell, with owners having to resort to cutting the asking price more often as they chase the market down.

 One bed flats remain listed for sale for an average of 70 days, according to Rightmove. That’s a week longer than it took five years ago and 24 days longer than they were spending on the market a decade ago.

In terms of price reductions, 36 per cent of one bed flats listed for sale have currently undergone at least one price reduction. That’s down from 30 per cent five years ago and 21 per cent of listing in 2016.

Over the last five years, asking prices for one‑bed flats have risen by just 3 per cent, compared with increases of 5 per cent for two‑bed flats and more than 10 per cent for three‑bed flats, according to Rightmove.

Colleen Babcock, the website’s property expert, says: ‘Our data shows that demand and price growth for one‑bed flats has lagged behind the wider market over this period, underlining that buyers’ preference for more space has continued well beyond the pandemic.

‘All other properties – whether houses or flats – with two or more bedrooms are either positive or dropping less than one bed flats, so the data shows that prices for one bed flats are not growing in line with others over the past five years.’

In London, the average one bed flat is listed for £377,151, that’s 4.6 per cent below where they were 10 years ago. 

Worryingly, for anyone with a one bed flat in London, there are now a staggering 75 per cent more one beds listed for sale than there was 10 years ago.

Why don’t people want one beds? 

Buying agent Jonathan Hopper of buying agent Garrington Property Finders, says that he does not have any clients looking for one bedroom flats, bar a few seeking a pied a terre in prime central London.

‘One bed flats are also just not really in vogue any more, largely because of a hangover from the race for space during the pandemic,’ he says.

‘While people have returned to towns and cities now, the work from home culture means people really need that extra room. The jump between a one bed and two bed in price is not massive so people prefer to stretch themselves.

‘Leasehold has also fallen out of favour due to high service charges, a lot of bad press and building safety concerns. First time buyers by-and-large are going for freehold homes over leasehold now.

‘The other issue is that these flats still come with big service charges so it’s really only affluent buyers who have used the Bank of Mum and Dad who can afford them,’ he says.

There is also evidence that first-time buyers are increasingly shunning one-beds and going straight from renting to buying a house. 

Two in three first-time buyer mortgage customers bought a house in 2025 rather than a flat, according to Santander.

And landlords and downsizers aren’t  interested in buying one beds either, according to estate agent Nicholas Austin. 

‘There are no investors,’ he says. ‘The buy-to-let market is dead. Downsizers and pied a terre buyers would still prefer two-beds to have guests or children to stay.’

‘People are naturally inclined to buy properties they can stay in longer because the costs of moving are so high with stamp duty, mortgage fees, solicitors’ fees, removal costs and everything else in between.

‘They’d rather go for broke in one hit and stay there for a decade than buy one property and then move to another. 

Austin is not expecting one bed flats to come back in vogue anytime soon either – unless there is some ‘monumental’ change.

‘For now, until there are significant changes in the property market in regards to stamp duty, cost of moving, et cetera, I don’t see them staging a huge comeback and they’ll still sell at rather reduced prices. 

‘If they do stage a comeback in the future, it will only be if there is some kind of monumental change to both the cost of moving and how service charges are calculated.’

Are you struggling to sell your one bedroom flat? Get in touch: [email protected]