Will bigger houses become cheaper

[Wantarest]

I've been wondering whether the high cost of energy and maintenance will mean people will want more moderate spaces rather than large houses.

One of my friend has said she regrets their renovation which massively increased the footprint of their house (from a 3 bedroom to a 6 bedroom plus a basement) but they do not use a lot of the space. One of their two children has already left home.

I believe back in the days (many decades ago), people did not want houses with many windows or large footprints because of the costs (tax for windows and keeping the spaces warm).

Just curious how lifestyle might change and adapt in the years to come because of the move to Net Zero, higher utility bills, and people having fewer kids. How will that affect the type of houses/space that we value the most.

That said, planning laws changed not too long ago to make it possible to build massive 6m box extensions both at the top and bottom and that has really change the look of many period properties, with some become bottom heavy and in some case top heavy.

I think excessively big houses will become less desireable if theyre put of kilter with the plot size, useabiliry, character etc - its already the case that houses with "older" (ie 10 years old plus) extensions on smaller hard-landscaping-filled plots arent universally popular now.

But its far nicer to put on an extra jumper and bobble hat because the heating is expensive than it is to sleep on the sofa because you've not enough space.

And then, factor in the people who want the perceived status of 6 bedrooms (or whatever) and that wont c.hange. Same reason as people will only consider certain marque of car, or brand of seldom-worn handbag or whatever - that neurotic keep-up-with-the-joneses, "Look, I AM good enough" crap

I thought the window tax was abolished before Victoria.

People like to be warm. Eventually there will be some other way of heating houses.

I think we will see a move back to multi generational living which will mean big houses are useful. Kids just can’t afford to move out

Large houses will be occupied by multi generation households or will be in demand for HMO’s

Next door have done a loft extension and a huge 6m downstairs as well.

made a decent 3 bed semi huge.

one lady in her 60’s living there. Apparently she was going to have her parents (late 80’s) move in but they died before it was finished.

she’s staying because she likes the prestige of the massive home 🤷‍♀️. Going to cost her a fortune to heat, especially as she gets older.

Not a great student of history so I defer to you knowledge @ArseInTheCoOpWindow.

I like the idea of multigenerational living but is that really feasible with the current general stock of housing? Feels like a recipe for major family fall outs. There would have to be a way of creating separate living spaces to enable independence otherwise it will feel like living on top of each other.

@Nonamesleft1 yes big houses are seen as a status though I think it ought to be big aesthetically pleasing big houses.

No, there is no chance that bigger houses will become cheaper. Only very rich people will be able to afford them as the gap between the poor and the wealthy grows ever wider. Your children and grandchildren will find it harder than ever to even get on the property ladder let alone afford a bigger house.

Generations living together will require adapting the homes we currently live in. It is not just a matter of a big house obtained through typical extensions. I imagine people will have to adapt their homes to provide enough independence for the different generations.

No space is priceless and you adjust to being cooler

Why is the 60 year old mentioned up thread staying in a big house for prestige reasons? Doubt it, I imagine she enjoys to space, it meets her needs, it's a lot of hassle and expense to move, she wants her capital to remain in her property, maybe its adaptable to live down stairs in the future, has family visiting, can afford the upkeep and bills, doesn't want to shed her belongings yet to move into a small space.

What is your beef OP? Large houses done suit multigenerational living now.

Bigger houses aren’t necessarily hard to heat, it’s about the windows quality/ build quality/ insulation. They are expensive to do but I really can’t see them coming down in price. I think multiple generations living together and working from home is likely to be a factor in demand for larger houses. New builds are much smaller in comparison so it isn’t as if there is too much supply or lots of options if you want a larger house.

I think energy costs are more dependent on construction method/insulation than house size. Our big extension reduced our overall energy expenditure as it is so well insulated and it helped insulated one side of the poorly constructed existing house. We tend to spend most of our time in the extension now reducing energy costs further as it is on a seperate gas circuit so we often don't bother heating the original house much.

I don't have a beef. Is there something to have a beef about? It is okay if you disagree with my point of view or if you think it is utterly ridiculous. It's just a question about how changes in socio-economic factors may affect how we live in the near future.

I know a few parents at school who are downsizing from big (5/6 bed) houses because they don’t want to have too much income tied up paying interest when their fix ends & because maintenance/heating costs are higher than expected.

Tbh I wouldn’t go for a big house now (not that I necessarily would have before) but the last few yrs have put me. I also see my in-laws struggling to manage theirs.

I did read an article saying the classic 3 bed house which is always in demand will become even more in demand as families will increasingly stop at that stage of the ladder (fewer dc, moving £££) & the older people in larger homes will want to downsize to them to reduce bills, free equity plus there hasn’t been a large building programme. Anecdotal but my friends who moved up from flats to 3 bed houses in the last few yrs had quite a lot of competition from older buyers who were often cash free.

there’s also the huge economic impact of an ageing population & how we adapt to that so financially things aren’t going to get particularly easier.

One of my friends has just bought his parents home so it stays in the family & had an annex built for his parents. However he is finding it quite difficult & whilst I think multi gen living may increase it’s not without issues. I don’t think I would do it tbh.

I'm not sure that larger houses will necessarily become cheaper but I do think period properties will become less desirable because of it becoming more expensive to heat and maintain them.

I don't think so, unless we're talking super huge houses (5 beds or more). People who need the extra rooms will continue to need them, and I think for people who just prefer extra space there will be more of them not less.

If anything I think bigger homes will be more in demand as the cost of living means kids are staying at home longer. We're trying to move at the moment because our current house wouldn't be big enough for two adult children if they stay at home past 18.

Also, work from home increasing means we also want office space somewhere in the house so we need either an extra bedroom or extra floor space downstairs.

Not seeing it - our pretty cul de sac with larger houses built in 1890s lots of period detail never even get to estate agents window as snapped up. We repeatedly get notes through the door asking if we ever think of selling to ring this number..Also
we could very easily turn ours into two flats.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/types-of-properties-losing-the-most-value/#:~:text=The%20search%20for%20space%20has,home%20have%20become%20more%20challenging.

this suggests some price softening

Another potential issue that is yet to feed through is the fact lots of flats have stagnated in value over the last few yrs. So much of the market is driven by equity so if you are not actually gaining much equity is very hard to make the jump to the next step, particularly when you factor in age of FTBs & wage growth over the last 2 decades.

Same here. For sale sign is usually up for a week at the most. Some don’t even have a for sale sign.

We have always bought the house built the extension loved it the sold for the next step up within 3 years. I don't see it changing everyone who views usually loves it.

I think what will change is more people will plan heating and a snug will become essential (always has been for us). I'm currently sat looking at plans for our next extension, it will have zoned heating, two log burners (snug + kitchen/family place). We are going for argon filled glazing in the main family space as we want lots of glass, we will also go for a ground source heat pump for the underfloor heating using a coil. In my eyes this will be the one we don't sell but will be see what happens in 5 years.

I know looking at our friends character (new or old), entertaining space and a home gym/play room are more important than bedrooms or cost of heating. The reason being if you don't have the land you can't add space but you can always insulate or upgrade systems.

We have always bought the house built the extension loved it the sold for the next step up within 3 years. I don't see it changing everyone who views usually loves it.

But statistically now people move far less & stay put a lot longer over their life times although location will make a difference. We are on our second property which is the same as all my friends. I envisage perhaps one more move maybe in 5 yrs time but that’s it. Stamp duty makes it prohibitive.

There will always be people with more money/work from home/blended families/au pair/relatives living with them so larger properties will be in demand. I still miss my 5 bed despite it being a devil to heat and no ensuite (I moved 200 miles)

@NonSequentialRhubarb

Good point, we have 2 20 somethings living with us plus the belongings of a third ... one should be partly gone this year (belongings unlikely to all go) the other is anyone's guess