To Ask Why People Buy Bungalows ....

[Speakuptomakeyourselfheard]

only to build up into the roof, making it nigh on impossible to buy a single storey building for those of us that are disabled and struggle with stairs. You see it so often, a nice little bungalow goes on the market and within a few months the builders are in lifting the roof off, or building into it. If you want a house, then buy a bloody house, and leave the bungalows for those that need them, and no, stair lifts are NOT the answer!

If someone buys a bungalow, and builds up, then is has no effect on you because you are not the one living there. No one thinks about the next owners when they have work done on their property. Why would they? This thread is bizarre.

I would love to live in a bungalow as the ones round here have massive gardens. I would build up and have a big craft studio. I can dream!

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

LOL It seems that none of you able bodied folk are entitled then? Not much! You're all campaigning on here for your right to do whatever you want, but you'd sooner that people like me don't have any rights!! I hope that you all struggle like mad when you're old and can't get upstairs, as then, and only then, will you really put yourself in my shoes.

You have the same rights as anyone else who wants to buy a bungalow.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114297053#/?channel=RES_BUY

And where do I live while I do my 'self build'? I don't have unlimited funds either.

In answer to wanting a garden but not being able to climb stairs, that shows a total lack of understanding. You've obviously never seen Mark Lane, on TV who does gardening from his wheelchair?

As for the stairlift question - would you want one cluttering up your home? I'm disabled physically, but mentally am fine, I just want a home that looks nice like anyone else's.

Thank you 'pregnantncnc' for your thoughts, and thinking about it, I don't have a problem with non disabled or young people buying a bungalow, like you, I just don't think they should be allowed to turn it into a house.

I can't work out if this thread is a joke or not. We bought our bungalow because in our town the general choice is new builds that have tiny rooms but such shallow roofs you couldn't add another floor (and my friend lives on the biggest estate in town which stipulates in the buying contracts that the construction will not even support a loft conversion); massive old family houses totally out of our price range or bungalows....bungalows probably make up at least 70% of the housing stock in our price range.

If there's no other realistic choice how does that make people selfish?

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

So you're another one then Aqua55? Taking yet another bungalow out of the market for those of us that need them.

Maybe you should have bought the bungalow when it was on the market then?

You want a one storey bungalow because the layout and the being detached and the having a garden etc are appealing to you. This is understandable but you don’t actually need one. You could live in a large ground floor flat. You don’t want to just like those buying & converting bungalows maybe don’t want to live in a terrace. I think everyone is fairly selfish when it comes to selecting their home & realistically why wouldn’t they be? It has a massive impact on their day to day life. By all means be mad at policy makers but it’s unreasonable to expect others won’t buy the house that’s best for them

Not everyone who is old wants to live in a bungalow so don't bother saving one for me. I'd hate to sleep on the ground floor, like my window open and I'd be expecting someone's head to appear. If I can't manage stairs I'll get a stairlift.

So you don't want a stair lift bit think that other people should massively inconvenience themselves for your benefit?
Hmm

I see what you're saying OP. However, I grew up in a bungalow and the attic was HUMONGOUS so the scope for building upwards and making lots of equity/profit at resale was massive so I can understand why people do.

AFAIA the current owner (AKA the lady that my mum sold to) hasn't done anything to the house. It still looks the exact same, so there are some people who keep bungalows as they are.

Love the bungalow 'frumpety' but sadly I need to be in Hampshire, so that I can get the help from family that I can't necessarily get elsewhere, due to lack of funding.

The area I live in has a disproportionately large number of bungalows which are cheaper and more suitable for families than houses here.

People would buy houses if they are available and affordable here.

They aren't.

Why aren't we having the conversation about building the right percentage of suitable accomodation for every group in an area rather than focus on non-existant hoards of disabled who don't live here (and quite frankly in the majority of cases, probably couldn't afford to)

Its far easier (lazier) to pit groups against each other rather than question planning oversight...

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

LOL It seems that none of you able bodied folk are entitled then? Not much! You're all campaigning on here for your right to do whatever you want, but you'd sooner that people like me don't have any rights!! I hope that you all struggle like mad when you're old and can't get upstairs, as then, and only then, will you really put yourself in my shoes.

Bless, OP. I'm pretty sure from your punctuation and grammar that you're younger than me. Plus I can't manage stairs but that doesn't mean families can't extend their bungalows. I'm not going to go round the village knocking on doors (ike Wee Willie Winkie but only on ground level obviously) and throwing them out because I struggle with stairs. This is exactly the sort of thread that a young person thinks an older person with mobility issues would start. But most older people with mobility issues have been young people with DCs and they aren't anywhere near as entitled as the younger generation.

Specifically what rights are being taken away from you @Speakuptomakeyourselfheard ?

I get that you want a property which is accessible. And I actually understand that you may not want a stairlift. I have a friend who says the same and he says he doesn't want to be reminded that he can't get up the stairs. I totally get that.

But you do have the same opportunity and right as everyone else to buy or rent a property. You actually have a better chance than many of finding a property which is suitable for your needs through the local authority. You might not want to do that, but it is an option open to you.

But being bitter about those who chose to purchase a property which you were never going to live in is bitterness which will send you twisted. You can't change it. And neither should you be able to. No one should be able to dictate what another does with their homes. The council and planning departments do that.

I hope you manage to find what you're looking for.

Maybe because there aren't enough houses in the price range of first time buyers. When I was looking for my first house, there were loads of bungalows, but few houses in my price range. I didn't want a bungalow but almost had to consider one. I guess that the ratio of bungalows to houses depends on where you are.

YANBU, this happened to my DGM’s bungalow when she sadly went in to a care home.

It’s happening because it can be cheaper to extend a bungalow than buy a big house, and because the plots of land are often generous, but long term it’s bad for the disabled and elderly who can’t manage stairs - or who don’t want stairs!

When DGM moved in to her area it was nearly all elderly neighbours - now loads of families have moved in as they’re priced out of the nearby city, and all the bungalows are being converted.

I live in a bungalow, but access to it is a steep slope and lots of steps (it's built on a hillside). Am I allowed to convert the loft or not?!

I live in a 1930s semi detached bungalow, a room was added in the loft in the 1960s next doors was done at the same time. We bought it because it was close to my parents and affordable.... It needed a lot of work! Ours isn't particularly disabled friendly, we are on a slope and there are some steps at the front and a flight of steps down to the garden. The kids love having big rooms and it's great being on the same level. There are a lot of bungalows in my area but they are all pre 1970s

YANBU that there should be more bungalows built, YANBU that there might be very good reason to put planning restrictions on converting bungalows when they are a necessity for people with certain disabilities and people who are incapacitated in other ways.

However it is completely unreasonable to slag off individuals on this thread for making a complex decision around purchasing a house, doing it up to suit them and their family’s needs, all within current planning legislation.

Meanwhile so many of us will never be able to buy our own home.

Am I being unreasonable when I write, as a 65 year old, that I don't want to live in a house designed by a council functionary as suitable for an old woman? I don't want a council bungalow built and insulated like a rabbit hutch in the 1950s, and fortunately I shan't be having to choose one. But if you are ageing and somewhat physically limited, then I'd like to think social housing might offer something that provided a modicum of decency and dignity... and freedom.

@WhiskyXray

Meanwhile so many of us will never be able to buy our own home.

Quite.

Bored now! Seems that there are very few people who actually have any clue what being disabled is like, and actually begrudge people like me having suitable housing, if it might mean that they miss out on a few grand profit. Thanks to those who have understood, and agree in principle that it might be time the rules were changed. With the selfish attitudes I've seen on here tonight, it's no wonder the world is such a mess!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113230832#/?channel=RES_BUY

This is rather lovely

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

LOL It seems that none of you able bodied folk are entitled then? Not much! You're all campaigning on here for your right to do whatever you want, but you'd sooner that people like me don't have any rights!! I hope that you all struggle like mad when you're old and can't get upstairs, as then, and only then, will you really put yourself in my shoes.

You don’t know anyone’s circumstances here or anywhere where they’re converting bungalows.

You need to take that enormous bungalow sized chip off your shoulder.