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GNHQ have commented on this thread. Read here.
We have been looking for a bungalow in Surrey lately and got very frustrated with what we have observed being a trend.
Almost all of bungalows were built in the 1930-s and are quite small, typically around 65m2. They are in a really poor state and have not been updated for a few decades. Many show signs of utter neglect. Most of them have suspended floors, rising damp issues or damp and mould from leaky roofs and gutters. Doors and windows need changing, not to mention pink and avocado bathrooms and pine kitchens together with polystyrene tile ceilings. They have EPC of D or even E.
Whilst most of those faults and undesirable features are due to age, some are due to sheer neglect from the relatives of the elderly owners. We have seen plenty of probate properties still on the market a year later with dirty dishes still left in the stinking dishwasher, food left in the fridge and gone mouldy, kitchen units left dirty still full of contents.
The saddest one was a perfect in every sense bungalow, so well laid out and built, where the water butt leaked, stayed unnoticed for ages, created damp in the wall and eventually black mould took over the whole wall behind the built-in wardrobe. The doors were left open, and the mould spores disseminated all over the house, infecting every inch of surfaces, carpets and fabrics. This is how you get what is called a “sick building syndrome”. You will never get rid of that mould completely, the spores will make sure it comes back.
So on one hand, there is a real shortage of bungalows for the aging population, and on the other hand there are plenty of them but in such poor condition that nobody would buy them. Relatives overprice these bungalows in a hope to get a bigger inheritance, so the buildings sit empty for over a year getting musty, mouldy and accumulate problems – and depreciate to the point of becoming unsellable. Yet they do very little to make them sellable in the first place, like dealing with leaks and damp or at the very least giving these properties a good clean and empty the appliances.
It makes me so sad to watch some great houses going to waste instead of becoming cosy and loved homes. The only thing that could stop this madness would probably be the condition under which properties could be marketed – to be cleared, cleaned and issue free.
Some properties even got extended but we have seen so many extensions that were given little thought and resulted in convoluted layout, blocked light and fresh air and unusable or lost space.
Not necessarily, perhaps they couldn't get a mortgage for the amount they needed; mortgage companies are trying to push down prices by valuing properties lower bow.
Try a low offer, they can only refuse.
Casdon
RusBun
This is what you can get for half a million in my area for example: www.onthemarket.com/details/13326505/
I thought you were going to show us a shoebox on a busy road RusBun, but that’s a decent bungalow on a quiet street with potential and a lovely garden. I don’t really see what it is that you couldn’t face about doing something like that up, it could be done in stages? The USP must be the toilet seat though, I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.
Interestingly, this one just come back on the market. Survey must have picked something nasty.
RusBun
Germanshepherdsmum
So perhaps postpone a move until then unless he has a private pension?
How can you afford to retire if you still have a big mortgage to pay? I think it is hard to imagine for people outside SE that this could be the case, but this is what high property prices and expensive mortgages do. It is a different world here, everybody is stretched to the limits, including those in well paid professions, unless you are from the upper class. I used to live in Cheshire, had my own 3-bed semi and could comfortably pay a mortgage and bills on a single salary. But my DH was born in this area and does not want to move.
We lived in the SE, I just had a glance at some bungalows and thought there were some which looked about the same price as around here but I don't know all the areas well.
There was one just a couple of roads from where we lived, it's on the market for £1.4 million! - but it is very large and beautifully refurbished.
Another one along the same road is a good size, looks fairly modern and less than half that price and about the same as bungalows in many areas away from the SE.
RusBun
This is what you can get for half a million in my area for example: www.onthemarket.com/details/13326505/
I thought you were going to show us a shoebox on a busy road RusBun, but that’s a decent bungalow on a quiet street with potential and a lovely garden. I don’t really see what it is that you couldn’t face about doing something like that up, it could be done in stages? The USP must be the toilet seat though, I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.
merlotgran
Callistemon21
A typical bungalow purchaser is also old or incapacitated, and also has no energy or resources to do it up
😁That’s me then! 🤣🤣
We can't find one despite looking for years so perhaps we're not old enough yet!!
RusBun
Fleurpepper
In the Midlands too, and not so far and isolated as Devon or Cornwall. Parts of the Midlands are just beautiful and with fast access to London and other cities.
Can you recommend those beautiful parts?
Yes.
My corner of N Bucks s 35 minutes from Euston and a lovely county to live in.
Let’s face it it OP, if Surrey is above your budget you will have to compromise.
£500k no longer buys very much and nothing at all,in the commuter belt.
This is what you can get for half a million in my area for example: www.onthemarket.com/details/13326505/
Fleurpepper
In the Midlands too, and not so far and isolated as Devon or Cornwall. Parts of the Midlands are just beautiful and with fast access to London and other cities.
Can you recommend those beautiful parts?
Germanshepherdsmum
I bought a bungalow in my late 30s (very handy with a small child). I also lived in my parents’ bungalow between the ages of 2 and 19. They are by no means only for the incapacitated or elderly.
I am not saying that bungalows are for the elderly only. But they are the obvious choice for the retirees, elderly and incapacitated whilst a lot of younger people would not even consider bungalows and go for a house, so they have far more choice and get better value.
The essence of this thread is that there is not enough of this type of accommodation in good condition needed by a certain group of population.
In the Midlands too, and not so far and isolated as Devon or Cornwall. Parts of the Midlands are just beautiful and with fast access to London and other cities.
Is it just me who’s got an On The Market advert on the page now featuring two bungalows?
OMG! Just looked at the bungalows in Cornwall and Devon and got blown away. You can get them twice as big, recently build, in great condition and for half the price of Surrey!!! Now trying to inspire hubby to get a transfer with his job, you never know!
Farm houses are often bungalows, I've never lived in anything other than a bungalow - my whole life. They're not just for the elderly. We're elderly now, so I guess we fit in well!
Foxygloves
Perhaps I need through the whole thread more carefully but it seems to me there are separate issues.
Bungalows are regularly more expensive than “normal” houses because you have the same number of rooms you need a larger footprint.
Bungalows are more popular with the elderly than younger couples so they change hands less frequently leading to a relative shortage
Bungalows also, because they are popular with the elderly are, and I hate to admit this, but it’s true, often more dated in their interior, and are modernised less frequently (new kitchen or bathrooms) and because us oldies are often on limited pensions, regular maintenance is not always carried out as often as it might be.
I know there are exceptions to all of my generalisations.
Second, if properties in your desired area are too expensive there is no point in railing against eg bungalows and their condition - you have to compromise somewhere
Price, location, type of house, condition (a “doer upper?) If you can get two out of the four you are lucky!
Add in local amenities, communications, outlook and it gets even more complicated.
So if OP can’t find a bungalow in good condition in her desired area that suggests it either has to be a different area, a different type of house or a project.
Well done you!
If we find a bungalow!
Perhaps I need through the whole thread more carefully but it seems to me there are separate issues.
Bungalows are regularly more expensive than “normal” houses because you have the same number of rooms you need a larger footprint.
Bungalows are more popular with the elderly than younger couples so they change hands less frequently leading to a relative shortage
Bungalows also, because they are popular with the elderly are, and I hate to admit this, but it’s true, often more dated in their interior, and are modernised less frequently (new kitchen or bathrooms) and because us oldies are often on limited pensions, regular maintenance is not always carried out as often as it might be.
I know there are exceptions to all of my generalisations.
Second, if properties in your desired area are too expensive there is no point in railing against eg bungalows and their condition - you have to compromise somewhere
Price, location, type of house, condition (a “doer upper?) If you can get two out of the four you are lucky!
Add in local amenities, communications, outlook and it gets even more complicated.
So if OP can’t find a bungalow in good condition in her desired area that suggests it either has to be a different area, a different type of house or a project.
If we gindza bungalow we will buy first. Move in and then sell. Many older people can't handle buying and moving at the same time. Never mind having to refurbish while in it.
I bought a bungalow in my late 30s (very handy with a small child). I also lived in my parents’ bungalow between the ages of 2 and 19. They are by no means only for the incapacitated or elderly.
Callistemon21
^A typical bungalow purchaser is also old or incapacitated, and also has no energy or resources to do it up^
😁
That’s me then! 🤣🤣
We lived in Essex (ie the SE) before retiring to Norfolk. We didn’t have a mortgage. Can you not find anything suitable that allows your husband to retire, as it seems you did many years ago?
A typical bungalow purchaser is also old or incapacitated, and also has no energy or resources to do it up
😁
A typical bungalow purchaser is also old or incapacitated, and also has no energy or resources to do it up
I am not sure this is true. Yes, many bungalows are bought by people around retirement age, but usually they are downsizing, are still fit and well and immediately get stuck in and renovate it. My parents bought a bungalow when they retired and made all kinds of changes to it to make it just what they wanted - and continued to do so for the whole time they liveed there. After they died we sold it to another retiring couple, who immediately launched into putting their mark on it, replacing windows, refitting the kitchen.
There are also a significant number of younger families who like bungalows and are not going to turn them into chalet bungalows.
Yes, I get a flat is not your dream. And that you wish to remain in Surrey.
But I think you have already found out this is not going to be easy to find, or to afford. For 500k you can get fabulous 3 bed, 2 bath houses in nice parts of the Midlands.
A ground floor flat has just sold in out block for nearly 500K, which is cheap compared to the nearby Epsom 10 minutes away, where it would cost 600K. Don't want another flat anyway, I explained why in another thread.
Ground floor flat perhaps?
In a really nice market town in the East Midlands, a two bed, two bath groundfloor flat would be about £215.000
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