The bungalow bonanza
Building single-storey homes may have fallen out of fashion – but demand means that prices are set to go through the roof
WHEN people think about bungalows, they often imagine them being located in sleepy coastal towns and inhabited by the elderly. The singlestorey home has certainly become less fashionable – a far cry from the early and middle parts of the 20th Century, when they were seen by many as the future of housing.
The building of new bungalows has been declining for years and, earlier this year a report by the Papworth Trust, a charity that helps people with disabilities to live independently, estimated that, if the downward trend continues, by 2020 no more bungalows would be built.
However, one property expert says that if that is indeed the case, owners are likely to see the value of their property surge. Morgan Dudley, director of Alchemy Property Management, says: ‘If bungalows are not being built, the demand for them is likely to go up. Demand will increase their value, especially since most bungalows are very well built.’
According to the National Federation of House Builders, in 1996 seven per cent of new-builds were bungalows, but by 2013 that figure had slumped to just two per cent.
The reason that fewer bungalows are being built is partly because property developers and housebuilders can make more money from twoand three-storey houses and blocks of flats. If they are paying a large sum for land, the theory is that they might as well try to maximise profits by building up.
‘The decline of bungalow-building is mostly due to the cost of land,’ says Ms Dudley. ‘There is an argument that more profit can be made if one builds up – this is certainly true in London. The non-variable in building is land. Profit will depend on building costs, house prices, location and, of course, the market demand at the time of building. Property is always market-driven.’
She believes that developers might be being shortsighted by disregarding the need for single-storey homes. She says: ‘In January 2014 there were 11million people in the UK with a limiting disability. Singlestorey homes offer more mobility around the house and allow for easy maintenance.’
One unique bungalow currently on the market is being sold by mother-of-four Maria Georgiou and her husband George. The mock-Tudor detached bungalow in Southgate, North London, is set back from the road, and its beams, which cover all the exterior walls, make a huge impact.
MARIA, who has lived at the house for 26 years, says: ‘We never thought we would live in a bungalow but when we saw it we just thought, “We can make this work.”’
The space stood out for the couple, and they liked the individuality of the property. ‘It’s just so easy living on one level,’ she adds. ‘The house is really light and airy.’
The five-bedroom house, built in the 1920s, was in place before any of the surrounding streets of two-storey houses were built.
Maria and George are moving because their children are now grown-up and they don’t need so much space. The house is on the market with Foxtons (foxtons.co.uk) for £945,000. Other striking bungalows currently on the market include The Arc, i n Kent, a Grand Designs-style home, so-called because it is built in a long curve to match its surrounding landscape. The west-facing floor-to-ceiling windows have views over the Elham Valley, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Special-Land-- scape Area. The house’s southern wall is also fully glazed, to take advantage of further views.
The Arc, which was built by the current owners, has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool.
It is on the market with Strutt & Parker (struttandparker.com) for £935,000.
In Heswall on The Wirral, a traditional two-bedroom detached dormer bungalow has views across beautiful gardens to the River Dee and Wales. The property is on the market with online estate agent YOPA (yopa.co.uk) for £525,000.
Efford Lodge, for sale for £1.575million through Woolley & Wallis (w-w.co.uk), is a much larger, and modern, type of bungalow, set on a 20-acre plot on the edge of Lymington, Hampshire.
In addition to its four bedrooms, the house, built in 1989, has a swimming pool, two stables, a tack room, and a workshop and tractor barn. The property’s boundary incorporates a stretch of the Avon Water over which the property has fishing rights. There is also a manège, paddock, and tennis court.
A bungalow with a swimming pool is also available through White & Sons, on a private estate near East Grinstead in the Sussex Weald. Called Recherché, which means rare and exotic, it has four bedrooms, all with en suite bathrooms, and is on the market for £1,050,000 (white andsons.co.uk).
While these bungalows are tastefully presented, Ms Dudley recog- nises there can be an i mage problem with bungalows. She says: ‘Just the mention of the word brings up images of flying ducks and macramé plant-holders. There is a stigma attached to bungalows, but it is a cosmetic stigma that can be changed and modernised with some imagination.’
Ms Dudley points out that many modern architects are taking the single-story building as the basis for eco-homes.
But, for now, bungalows such as Recherché are more likely to become increasingly desirable because their numbers mean they will be living up to its name, and becoming more highly prized and valuable in the future.