The home of your dreams – A bungalow!

Really? ‘Yes, hear us out!’

The desirability of the humble bungalow is on the rise and it’s not just the older generations that want one! The benefits of having everything you need on one floor continues to be appealing across all age groups. As well as the obvious advantages of not having stairs which makes them child-friendly, and accessible for those with mobility limitations, they also offer large floorplans, good sized gardens, are easy to maintain and they lend themselves really well to renovation, extension and modernisation.

Only last month, even during the coronavirus restrictions, KTA had three new bungalow instructions, and this isn’t out of the ordinary.

We agree that bungalows don’t have the best reputation and can be viewed as unfashionable, have awkward layouts and bad insulation. However, with some clever design you can transform a tired bungalow into a masterpiece that is airy, light and elegant as well as practical. They also hold their value because of the demand, so you could dramatically increase the value of your bungalow with some improvements.

Over the last few decades, the number of new bungalows being built in the UK has declined dramatically. One of the reasons for this is because builders have concentrated on maximising land value and building up. Also, developers will often knock them down and replace them with multiple homes because they are normally positioned on larger land sizes. As a result, there’s less on the market, so bungalows retain higher property values.

Are you lucky enough to have one?

We say improve, don’t move! You may already hold the key to the home of your dreams, you just haven’t spoken to us yet!

Bungalows offer bags of potential, here are just a few ideas:

1. Plenty of scope to extend and modify – walls aren’t load bearing in the same way as a two-storey property.
2. If the roof has enough height, a mezzanine or loft conversion could give you extra space, while still retaining the one level feel.
3. If your bungalow feels a bit pokey, there are fewer supporting walls so you can take some down to create a more open plan, airy feel.
4. If you lack internal space, extend out into the garden to create a stunning open plan kitchen and dining area. Bungalows usually come with larger gardens so you won’t be compromising on outside space.
5. Re-design the internal layout if it doesn’t suit you. For example, corridors can take up a lot of internal space which could form part of a bigger room.
6. If your bungalow lacks natural light, you can rebuild part of the roof to integrate vaulted ceilings, insert skylights, rooflights and roof windows.
7. You can always build up!

With all extensions and renovations, they will be subject to planning permissions (which we will help you attain).

Want to build?

Kingswood Design Residential are specialists in new build house design for individuals and developers. If you want to build your own home and are looking for an architectural designer to design your new property, click here for more information.

We love a challenge! Please get in touch and let us inject some contemporary design into your home! Call Kevin Todd on 07973 227925 or email: kt@kevintoddarchitectural.co.uk