The number of bungalows being built in the UK has collapsed, despite an ageing population. In 2014, just 1% of new builds were bungalows, down from 7% in 1996, according to the National House Building Council. Meanwhile, the proportion of new homes that were flats or maisonettes more than doubled from 15% to 33%.
Developers facing rocketing land prices are under pressure to build upwards. The average price per hectare of land with planning permission in England is £6m, and the UK's population is projected to reach 74.3 million by 2039, making land even more costly. Property expert Henry Pryor says: 'Bungalows aren't the most valuable use of a building plot. You get far more value from a two or three-storey building.'
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns that plans for councils to sell higher-value properties could result in 15,300 bungalows going into private hands by 2021, many likely to be replaced with multi-storey homes. Yet demand for single-storey homes is growing as the population ages. A YouGov survey for the Papworth Trust found 47% of over-55s wanted to live in a bungalow when they retire.
Ben Bartlett, a 74-year-old builder living in a bungalow in Truro, says: 'It's great that there are no stairs. Everything's on one level, which makes life so much easier.' However, a shortage of sheltered housing and care homes means older retirees cannot leave bungalows, younger retirees cannot buy them, and younger people cannot buy family houses. Pryor notes: 'That's putting a brake on movement.'
One suggestion to overcome high land costs is building 'stacked bungalows' – two single-storey homes on top of each other, accessed by a gentle slope rather than stairs. It is debatable whether these would still be bungalows or better described as easy-access flats.
