The price of bungalows

[Chowtime]

Has anyone else noticed the price of bungalows has increased much more than the price of houses recently?

Call me synical but does the fact that we have a large proportion of the population about to enter retirement age have anything to do with this.

£650k for a 2 bed new build bungalow here in West Midlands. Would have been £350 last year.

I'm looking for myself, I want to downsize from the big 4 bedroom detached family home into something smaller to accommodate my increasing age (i'm 59 now so future planning) but the houses that i'd need cost more than my current home!

What a mess the housing situation in this country is. No wonder not enough people downsize.

Bungalows have always cost more than their house equivalents.

Supply and demand.

The bungalows locally generally go to younger people who remodel. I guess that's why they are rocketing in price. Possiblity cheaper to install a downstairs bathroom

They're normally detached, aren't they?
But you'll stay fitter if you're using stairs, if you're able to. I moved to a bungalow because DH liked it. The rooms are big. But because it's detached it's expensive to heat. Some of the rooms have three outside walls. Also I'm not keen on sleeping downstairs. And someone bashing about in the kitchen at night disturbs DS trying to sleep in the next room. So think carefully!

You're better off staying in a 4 bed.

There's presumably space for a starlift, wet room and bedroom downstairs and for family / a carer to stay.

That's really awfully high - I'm looking for my father in law at moment within 12 miles of Bath in Somerset and west wilts -ideally somewhere with facilities if it's a village or small town and can get decent done up 3 bedders with lovely garden in say Frome for about £420,000 - some 4 bedders around £500k - mind you it has 'lots ' of bungalows so keeps price down a bit-same in Trowbridge and Devizes.

That seems alot for the West Mids! My FILs 3 bed dormer is on the market currently in that area for half that!

Basic cost is linked to land prices. Could get 2 semis on the space for one bungalow. Price increase linked to demand. You’re suffering from being a tail-end boomer.

What are you cynical about OP? It’s just the market. There’s no conspiracy or government plan. I suppose the government could start mandating a minimum build of disability friendly bungalows but it’s always going to be hard to justify that inefficient use of available land.
What about a ground floor garden flat?

I'm in SE and have never seen a new build bungalow! I grew up in one abroad, it was called a villa there.

Bungalows have always cost a fair bit around this way (S Wales) largely because of the extra land they tend to take up.

I’m always drawn to bungalows and can’t wait until I am old enough for one 😂

We have a bungalow, houses have always been cheaper than equivalent bungalows (bedrooms etc.) They take up more land and prices are pushed up by people downsizing. There's also often a supply issue.

Ours is detached with large rooms. We're not retired yet but have mobility issues, the bungalow needs a lot of work but that was reflected in the price, fully refurbished it would have been out of our budget without taking a mortgage.

Older buyers l (experience from relatives) generally want a bungalow that needs little or no work, which is reflected in the price of the bungalow's they're interested in. Bungalows that need work are more likely to be bought by "younger" buyers or by flippers. The buyers we ended up bidding against were flippers, the price had been reduced because older buyers were put off by the work needed. We didn't mind because it's entirely liveable and we'll do it over time.

Where I live two bungalows have been bought and turned into 2 storey houses. All the land is paved for 2 garages and 2 cars parked outside and patios . I gather there is vat on renovations and extensions but not on new builds.

Here's a couple of examples round us- the first one is a really big 4 bedder in a fantastically lovely village 6 miles from Bath with 2 lovely pubs, shop plus farm shop etc on a good bus route, - 2nd one in Frome- trendy town and this is in a decent area - neither are cheap areas but way less money -that's why I'm suprised at the price OP has said- is it because it's brand new? The 2nd one here is slightly dated but the average older person would I think find it fine- although that blue bathroom would have to go!!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144915533#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148918340#/?channel=RES_BUY

And please don't anyone buy that first one- I'm waiting on my father in law exchanging on his current one for him to go and buy it - he won't sell and buy at same time !!

A physio for my elderly father told me it's best for people to use stairs as long as possible. I'll probably install a stair lift instead if I need to in future

In my village the bungalows are much more expensive than the houses.

Lots of elderly people essentially live on the ground floor of their house - it's lot cheaper than buying a bungalow.

My mother bought a bungalow and for one reason or another couldn't move into it and sold it recently, having done nothing at all to it - it was literally empty for a year...for a third more than she had bought it for.

You aren't wrong. My parents stayed in a house for this very reason..

Typically there are less bungalows, so it's supply and demand. But also the footprint of a 2 bed bungalow is going to be substantially bigger than the equivalent sized house so you are paying for a larger land plot.

I don't understand the concept of bungalows, having not grown up in this country. Aren't they just one story houses? Yet both the OP and various PPs use "bungalow" as a separate category not included in "houses", rather than a subset thereof.

Houses on my parents cul-de-sac (10 properties altogether) are about £800K. The three bungalows which are the same size sq. meters, are well over £1million. Admittedly the bungalows come with plots about twice the size (you could easily build two houses on them) but that's it. When they bought in 2020, it was valued at £800K and the houses at about £725K. So the houses have gone up about 75K(ish) but the bungalows have gone up about 400K (dependent on condition) which is insane.

The price of bungalows has rocketed, massively. In part this is as a result of COVID, I think. Lots of older people who would have moved into retirement homes or smaller retirement village style-flats now aren't - at least where my parents live - because they don't want to be trapped inside again etc. And of course the ongoing 'service charge' saga stops a lot of people downsizing to bog-standard flats...

Yes, like others have said, they all seem to be being turned into two storey houses. It's happened to every single one in my village that was sold in the last ten years.

They've always been far more expensive than an equivalent number of bedrooms house - less efficient use of space. When we were looking for one for an elderly relative bungalows were selling very very fast as limited supply.

They're not always a great solution though. They're often detached, which means garden all the way round to maintain. "Bungalow syndrome" where your leg muscles and balance etc deteriorate because you're not climbing stairs regularly. They're often further away from shops/town centres because of the amount of land they require which is then difficult once people have to stop driving or can't walk far to a bus route.

In our area bungalows are popular with developers. On our road they have knocked a bungalow down and built three town houses in its place. I’ve always thought that’s the reason they go for a premium.