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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Mypathtriedtokillme · 16/10/2021 06:56

We have a 1920’s bungalow as do my inlaws.
The best thing about it is that all of the doorways are larger than modern ones so when my FiL visits in his wheelchair there is no issues with doorways and not a lot of retro fitting in there house.

Why aren’t modern houses still built with decent sized doorways and halls?

rrhuth · 16/10/2021 06:56

The solution would be Soviet-style blocks of flats, allocated by the government.

Sure we'd all be very happy then.

MumDadBingoBLUEY · 16/10/2021 07:01

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but I noticed a discussion on a local new build estate's residents Facebook page about where each individual builders (several in the estate) lift support wall was.

I don't think it's every new build estate, but a lot are future proofed like that, so installation of a proper (not stair) lift is a possibility. Would that not be an option for you?

rrhuth · 16/10/2021 07:04

Agree about lifts. These should be allowed (with boundary considerations) under permitted development IMO - I heard of someone who was turned down by planners despite having a disabled child Angry

over2021 · 16/10/2021 07:07

We did exactly this. It's a big plot and the cost of a loft conversion and extension (when we did it) was far less than buying a house of equivalent size in the area.

To give context, we bought out bungalow in 2012 for £143k and had it valued for remortgaged last month at £580k. The building works have cost circa. £110k.

over2021 · 16/10/2021 07:09

@ArblemarchTFruitbat

If they are converted 'true bungalows' is it not still possible to live on the ground floor? Most I have seen still have a downstairs bathroom and at least one bedroom.
Yes, it's normally a condition of planning that a bedroom is downstairs - we use our '4th bedroom' as a living room. No bathroom downstairs but our downstairs loo and utility could be converted easily.
TicTacHoh · 16/10/2021 07:11

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

Wow, imagine having your own money and doing what you want with it, how very dare they!!

Simonjt · 16/10/2021 07:15

A colleague is a wheelchair user, she lived in a lovely three storey townhouse, she has a lift installed in her home so she can access all floors. It isn’t large, about the size of a standard shower cubicle, so easily fits on each landing.

Tabitha005 · 16/10/2021 07:20

Some local authorities won't allow conversions of bungalows to 2-storey dwellings in certain areas, but I think they're in a minority.

Volume developers certainly aren't building the amount of single storey housing that older people or those seeking to downsize want to buy - which is nuts, because many of those potential buyers are cash rich and would pay as much as they would for a 2-storey dwelling if it had all of the facilities and features they wanted. Developers are already building homes that most local people can't afford in many areas, whilst roundly ignoring the older generation who DO have the money from downsizing their larger properties, but aren't catered for at all in the design of the properties being built.

In the UK, there's a growing interest in people considering 'co-housing' as a viable alternative to lone or older-years living - although people of any age are getting interested in it, including families with young children. The idea is that a group forms to buy a piece of land, build individual dwellings (with their own kitchens and bathrooms), but share common spaces and facilities such as a communal kitchen, food growing space, car share, gardening and DiY tools, bicycles etc.

Some older people really love this idea as it also combats isolation and loneliness, whereas others would think it's the worst idea ever! It's cited as a solution to high land prices, especially in the south of the country, and a way of creating secure, perpetually affordable housing.

It depresses me when I see lovely big plots with pretty bungalows re-developed into houses as big as the plot will allow, with tiny gardens, all hard landscaped and built with shit-loads of polluting concrete and non-sustainable materials. The driveway space is always huge, though - because we British are weirdly obsessed with it.

MrsSchadenfreude · 16/10/2021 07:28

I grew up in a large 1920s bungalow - it had four bedrooms and 3/4 of an acre garden, which included a small orchard. My Mum sold it when my Dad died, to a developer, who knocked it down and built 3 nasty executive homes on the land. The same happened to the house next door. I think builders and developers can’t resist.

Tabitha005 · 16/10/2021 07:29

@rrhuth

The solution would be Soviet-style blocks of flats, allocated by the government.

Sure we'd all be very happy then.

I'm sure many of those utterly priced out of the open housing market and having to exist in sub-standard temporary accommodation or at the mercy of shorthold tenancy agreements in the privately-rented sector would love a 'Soviet-style' flat that guarantees them a secure tenancy.

Housing insecurity is one of the things commonly cited by many people as a mental health issue in the UK.

Porcupineintherough · 16/10/2021 07:29

Yes YABU

fabulouslyglamorousferret · 16/10/2021 07:30

Converted bungalow dweller here - entitled mofo that I am)... ✋🏻

Your argument is invalid, I still have 2 bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs (so you could live here perfectly well) but bungalows are at such a premium in our town that my home, despite spending 100k doing it up, still only worth the same as next doors 'true' bungalow.

But, if someone wanted our house due to poor mobility, or for accessibility reasons then the huge half acre garden and 5/6 car drive would be impossible to manage and wasted.

rrhuth · 16/10/2021 07:33

@Tabitha005 I hear you, we are crammed into a house way too small! My point was about them being allocated on an official's view of what you need, I don't think people were happy at being sent to X city when they grew up in y village.

UK needs more social housing and general rentals, but not to tell people they can't buy on the open market.

Tabitha005 · 16/10/2021 07:43

@MrsSchadenfreude

I grew up in a large 1920s bungalow - it had four bedrooms and 3/4 of an acre garden, which included a small orchard. My Mum sold it when my Dad died, to a developer, who knocked it down and built 3 nasty executive homes on the land. The same happened to the house next door. I think builders and developers can’t resist.
I've recently bought almost exactly what you've described as your childhood home (sadly, no orchard, but I've plans for beehives). I was up against a developer who openly told me he wanted to use the plot for three houses.

Several friends asked when we were going to start the loft conversion and were a bit weirded out when we said it wasn't in our plans. One helpfully commented that we'd be 'stupid' not to capitalise in this way. I think many British people are completely unable to fathom that someone wouldn't want to rinse as much profit as possible out of any property transaction.

A bungalow lends itself perfectly to a certain style of living that suits us and that we'd have found hard to recreate in a non-bungalow (think 'California modernist') and there's a LOT of people our age buying them in our area who are similarly child-free and don't need the extra space provided by an extension or loft conversion.

saleorbouy · 16/10/2021 07:43

Bungalow bashing is a cheaper way if buying a property in an area on an established site. After converting there is usually a fair amount of equity remaining if managed well.

Littleelffriend · 16/10/2021 07:45

This is the most ridiculous thread I’ve ever read. I’m able bodied and I live in a bungalow. Love it

home2012 · 16/10/2021 07:49

@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.
So when they pass this law only letting certain people buy bungalows, will they also pass a law saying you can't buy a three bed semi if you don't have kids! Or Doris need to sell her four bed detached that's she's lived in for 59 years cause a family needs it.
hellcatspangle · 16/10/2021 07:49

I don't think it's fair to blame individuals for buying a bungalow and doing what they want with it - if one person decided not to buy a particular bungalow because someone more in need should have it, it doesn't mean it would go to the "right person".

Surely it's down to house builders to develop bungalows on smaller, more easy to manage plots (posters are correct when they say older bungalows are on larger plots requiring more maintenance) and only sell them to people with particular needs. If the demand is there it should be financially viable.

Where I live there's actually an entire estate of two bed semi detached bungalows with a drive and small garden, and although anyone can buy them it's mostly retired people (built in the early 70's) and they do get snapped up quickly. They sell for the same or more than a two bed house on same size plot, so builders wouldn't lose out if they chose to build something similar.

MaxNormal · 16/10/2021 07:56

OP you sound just as entitled as everyone else you're accusing of entitlement. If people have bought their own home, they can do what they want provided they have planning permission.

Tobchette · 16/10/2021 08:03

Is it fair that families with multiple children are crammed into small flats with no garden, unable to find something to buy, while elderly people hog massive 5 bedroom homes with front and back gardens just because they don't want to move.

Well yes, yes it is. They bought their homes and it's up to them what they do with it. Just like when a family then buys a bungalow and extends the space because that's their option and they go with it.

A "fair" system like you are talking about could quickly backfire.

frumpety · 16/10/2021 08:09

Awful photos but looks like it wouldn't need a lot doing to make it nice ?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114739601#/?channel=RES_BUY

JaninaDuszejko · 16/10/2021 08:10

Move to the north of Scotland, 99% of the housing stock is bungalows.

Ariela · 16/10/2021 08:16

I've a friend who is pretty much wheelchair bound nowadays. He scoured floorplans for weeks when he bought his current home to see what was viable, and has installed a lift like this - he can get his wheelchair in. www.stiltz.co.uk/trio-home-lift-overview/

The house is as immaculate and nice as anybody else's. The lift is situated in the far end of the utility - he's changed that about a bit as there was a downstairs shower and loo which is now a bit smaller and re-arranged but he's taken out the shower tray and its also a wetroom. The lift isn't visible unless you need to go out the back door, or use the downstairs loo. Upstairs it exits in the master bedroom, which is a largish room with ensuite which he's altered to be a wet room. Should he move, it can easily be removed and the floors /space made good.
He said this was a far cheaper option than a bungalow for the same square footage of house. I think it was about £20K for the lift installed and the utility/downstairs loo/shower room alterations .
He can use the stairs too still - he's had double handrail put in. I think that, the slight ramp up from the parking to the front door with no step, and the little decorative handrail he had made by a blacksmith to go around the pillar by the front door (you might not notice it as a mobility aid), plus the slope down from the patio to the garden rather than a step, and a low area of worktop but set under a window so you might think it's to unclutter the view of the garden from the kitchen, are perhaps the only signs a less mobile person lives there. If push came to shove and he could no longer manage the lift, then there is a study/snug with double doors to the patio & nice view of the garden that could convert to a downstairs bedroom.

Would a 2 storey house + lift work for you @Speakuptomakeyourselfheard

SheikhLaBootie · 16/10/2021 08:17

@RedToothBrush absolutely. Even if OP is expressing it like a churlish teenager I did appreciate the difficulty of not being able to find what she needs on the property market. BUT once I read it’s because stair lifts don’t look nice my sympathy vanished in a puff of smoke. There are countless ways you could make it less intrusive.

Bunalows are great but in a time of enormous housing shortage they are an absolute luxury. If we’re not allowed to convert bungalows to house more people then we’re going to end up eating into the green belt or more and more blocks of flats. And all because stairlifts don’t look nice - doesn’t seem like other posters are the only entitled ones here… Hmm