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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To Ask Why People Buy Bungalows ....

308 replies

Speakuptomakeyourselfheard · 15/10/2021 20:48

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!

OP posts:
ittakes2 · 15/10/2021 23:05

Sorry it was also not the location as we live about an hour's drive from london with train links too.

Mumwithbaggage · 15/10/2021 23:07

We're currently cleaning up my 93yo dad's bungalow a bit to put on the market - he wants to move to a flat (a bit supported living but not too much). It has a huge plot - 3Xsize of all his neighbours. Currently 3 bed but i can see it expanding to a lovey 5/6 bed home. Why not? Big families need homes.

WhatsTheEffingPoint · 15/10/2021 23:08

@Cakeofdoom

I'm in Hampshire btw, I live in an area that is predominantly small detached bungalows...it is not beyond reach
Same here. I lived in a bungalow (rented) it had a restriction on it that you couldn't build up in the roof, nor would you want to because the pitch of the roof was far too steep (at 5ft even I couldn't stand up straight in the loft). So they are out there just maybe not in every town/city etc, but who's fault is that ?
Whatinthelord · 15/10/2021 23:08

Well the housing market is driven by money.
Housing isn’t allocated by greatest need but by who can pay the most.

Sad but true. Expecting anything else would be fruitless.

I would say that I don’t understand why housing associations don’t make the most of their bungalows too. My mum is disabled and when she moved in to her bungalow it needed so much work to make it accessible. .

5329871e · 15/10/2021 23:09

A bungalow is a luxury. With the current housing crisis, I don’t see how they’re sustainable any more. More and more people are living in flats.

You come across as extremely entitled, OP. You need to buy within your means, and if that’s a ground floor flat with no garden, then deal with it.

I’m sure I’d love to house my family in a spacious 5 bedroom detached house with secluded garden and double garage in an excellent schools catchment area. But I can’t afford it and don’t believe I’m entitled to it. So I’ll buy up your bungalow and extend it if I have to Grin

MissAmbrosia · 15/10/2021 23:10

My current house has 3 flights of stairs. I would love a bungalow now as a forever home. With a decent utility room.

itsnotmeitsu · 15/10/2021 23:10

'Round here they don't do that to bungalows, OP.

Here, they buy a large bungalow with a nice garden, bulldoze it flat and shoehorn half a dozen new houses into the plot.'

@butterflyze > That's what they've done on the garden/property next door to us. We now have seven 'apartments' and two semi-detached 'bungalows' on the property alongside us, where once it was a bungalow and a garden.

Upsky · 15/10/2021 23:13

Where I live there were huge numbers of bungalows built in the 60s and 70s. My first home was a bungalow. I loved the fact that you could use the rooms for what you wanted without feeling like you were living in a bedroom. We had three bedrooms and used one as a dining room and another as a second sitting room.
I'd love to downsize now back to a bungalow. Wouldn't mind if it had upstairs, that would be my guest rooms.

Nannyamc · 15/10/2021 23:14

We moved to a very modest 3 bed bungalow 30 yrs .
Have updated it to 5 bedrooms + bathrooms

MrsSkylerWhite · 15/10/2021 23:15

Nannyamc

We moved to a very modest 3 bed bungalow 30 yrs .
Have updated it to 5 bedrooms + bathrooms“

How very dare you.

milveycrohn · 15/10/2021 23:18

Most of the bungalows in my neighbourhood were built in the 1930s. (with the exception of an elderly bungalow 'village').
Weirdly, they seem to have been built with very small rooms, and very large gardens. Consequently, over the years they have often been extended. (extending is usually cheaper than moving). The outward extensions are often very badly done, but upwards extensions are usually better.
Nearby, a bungalow was sold to a property developer, with planning permission for several flats instead.
I can see that over the years most bungalows will eventually disappear.

theSunday · 15/10/2021 23:33

@MrsSkylerWhite

Because they want to and can.

Is everyone supposed to think about future owners now?

Agreed.

And why are people buying houses with 3 bedrooms if they only have one child (or no kids)?.

They should leave the bigger houses for the bigger families. How rude.

Doodar · 15/10/2021 23:36

What a weird post, there’s thousands of bungalows for sale.

Oooh, let’s not extend incase someone needs a one story later. Fucking unbelievable.

Edinvillian · 15/10/2021 23:38

We bought a converted bungalow and the aim is to sort of block off the upstairs when we're older and no longer need the upstairs bedrooms. There's still two bedroom, a bathroom and guest wc downstairs.

NashvilleQueen · 15/10/2021 23:40

YABU because the very definition of the word can be single storey or with a converted loft. So your theory that somehow everyone is changing them from bungalows is incorrect

To Ask Why People Buy Bungalows ....
hotmeatymilk · 15/10/2021 23:40

So your AIBU is essentially that you want to ringfence affordable, aesthetically pleasing housing that meets your specific needs, with a large garden in an expensive area close to your support network?

You and… everyone else.

Lalliella · 15/10/2021 23:43

A mum in my NCT group has waaaaaay more money than sense and bought a bungalow, then had a massive extension into the roof because she wanted to go upstairs to go to bed 🤦‍♀️ YANBU OP

MrsSkylerWhite · 15/10/2021 23:47

Lalliella

A mum in my NCT group has waaaaaay more money than sense and bought a bungalow, then had a massive extension into the roof because she wanted to go upstairs to go to bed 🤦‍♀️ YANBU OP

Meow

HousingOne · 15/10/2021 23:49

@Viviennemary

A lot of bungalows have very narrow hallways and would not be at all suitable for wheelchairs.
Yes this is a major issue, another poster mentioned about HA bungalows, many were built years and years ago where one moved to a bungalow to down size after the family left home, and the big garden was for retirement, plus in post war building to continue with the growing of veg. As soon as one became ill etc you went to the local nursing or retirement home or some kind of sheltered accommodation. The properties were never built with much consideration hence narrow hallways and massive steps. Building regulations have changed over the years and ramps need a lot more space to meet these then in the days you could just whack a bit of concrete down. Even the bungalows built now don't have to be fully wheelchair accessible - as in there is no legislation to force this.

Plenty of people who need a bungalow live with others who can climb stairs eg my friends dd has the attic room.

This is another major issue, accessible family properties, whether that is for a family with a disabled child or one with a disabled parent.

As an aside a stairlift isn't suitable for everyone, there are a number of contraindications to their use.

WeeWeeWeeeee · 15/10/2021 23:54

I live in a large bungalow. We’ve extended it once to add a bedroom, bathroom and utility to make a family home. Several years on we are now in the planning stages of going up in to the attic.
Do I care that I’m altering an accessible property? No. I’m disabled and need to live on one level but going upwards suits my adult children that can’t afford to move out.

Allycott · 16/10/2021 00:00

Land is good - snap it up - they're not making any more if ut

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 16/10/2021 00:00

@Twillow

I always wonder why the bungalows I see have such enormous gardens? Surely if it's for a disabled or elderly person they don't want to be saddled with a lot of garden maintenance?
Yes this, people buy them for the land I think. I'd really like to buy one with a small garden when I retire but they all have enormous gardens.
C8H10N4O2 · 16/10/2021 00:04

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

What on earth is wrong with a stair lift or a small footprint houselift?

Bungalows require a huge footprint per person, that is why they are expensive. Disabled people have family, visiting friends and sometimes carers all of whom can use stairs. A one or two bedroom bungalow with a loft conversion can house a family with a disabled member who may not be able to afford a three or four bedroom bungalow.

There are also such things as flats and maisonettes with gardens. Gardens tend to belong to the ground floor accommodation.

There are plenty of people who can't afford their preferred housing and live in smaller an less desirable options.

PickUpAPepper · 16/10/2021 00:08

Goodness op, I bet a lot of people would be sympathetic about the provision of housing for elderly and disabled, but it's almost as if you've deliberately tried to get people's backs up. Have a look at what the housing market is like for people who work and still can't afford to buy anything, let alone nice big plots with large gardens.

onlychildhamster · 16/10/2021 00:09

@Speakuptomakeyourselfheard there are garden flats with no stairs..