In the market for a new home? The chances are that you’re looking for an entirely different set of qualities and features than would have appealed to the average homebuyer just a few decades ago. It’s worth understanding what motivates the average buyer – especially if you’re selling a property, and need to understand what might help it to appeal more strongly.
What Modern Buyers Really Want from a Home
In recent years, the priorities of buyers have shifted in several distinct ways. To begin with, a sizeable number of workers in the UK now spend at least a portion of their professional lives at home. You might therefore look for adaptable spaces, purpose-built home offices, and other features that might make working from home that little bit easier.
A home that’s energy efficient is also desirable. For one thing, such a home will appeal to an increasingly eco-conscious market. For another, these homes tend to be much cheaper to run. We’ll touch more on this in a moment.
Design Features that Add Value and Appeal
Certain features will reliably add to the appeal of a modern home. In many cases, buyers have come to expect these as standard. These include smart boiler controls, which can be seamlessly integrated into home networks, and controlled using apps and voice commands. Effective storage also matters, particularly in smaller homes in which space is limited. You might make use of stackable containers and bespoke floor-to-ceiling shelves in order to make use of the space available to you.
Sustainability and Efficiency as Core Design Principles
Efficiency needn’t just be limited to a home’s consumption of energy. A modern home might also be designed to limit our use of non-sustainable materials.
Installing insulation in loft areas, and investing in superior radiators, boilers, and heat pumps, might all be helpful. This is one area in which new-build homes have a natural advantage, since they’ve been built from the ground up with modern building regulations in mind.
Planning and Policy Trends Influencing Home Design
Increasingly, designers are looking to move away from overly standardised, cookie-cutter floor plans. By offering a diverse range of layouts and features, it’s possible to appeal to a wider cross-section of potential buyers. The rise of hyper-specific spaces, like utility rooms that double as washrooms for dogs, might be worthwhile in an age where dog ownership is increasingly commonplace.
