New research has been conducted into the things families prioritise when it comes to choosing a place to call home.
In a bid to pinpoint what its customers think makes a better way to live, Redrow Homes surveyed parents and children aged 4-16 to find out their preferences for their home and neighbourhood.
It certainly brought good news for housebuilders, as more than half (54%) of parents said their ‘dream home’ would be a new build – either in the city country or suburbs.
Only half of those who currently live in an old house in the country (50%) say this is actually their dream home type. A quarter of them aspire to live a new build in the country, proving there’s a strong demand among owners of older properties in rural areas to move to a newer home in a similar location.
In terms of where exactly to build those homes, close to a good school, parks and green spaces, and a bus stop or train station would be a safe bet.
Most important for parents when choosing an area to live was a good local school, with 72% placing it among their top three priorities. Perhaps more surprisingly, almost half (49%) of the children questioned wanted to be close to their school too.
Ranking second and third for parents respectively, were somewhere with good transport links (favoured by 37%) and the importance of a ‘community feel’ (with 33% placing this in their top three).
In terms of what the adult participants look for in the property itself, outdoor space came out overwhelmingly on top, with almost three quarters (74%) picking a garden as one of their top three desirable features, followed by off-street parking (44%) and storage space (39%). Completing the top five priorities favoured, were the more up-to-date features of a ‘modern fitted kitchen with integrated appliances’ and a house that is ‘economical to run’, both being chosen by almost a quarter of adult respondents (23% and 22% respectively).
When children were asked what’s most important to them about where they live, 60% said it was being near to their friends, followed by the 49% who liked to be close to school. Almost half (47%) valued having lots of parks and green space nearby, ahead of 17% who thought being near facilities such as a cinema was vital.
When asked what they liked most about their own homes, children chose their bedroom, with almost three quarters placing it among their top three. Maybe to be expected, personal space becomes more important as children get older, with 81% of youngsters aged 11-16 choosing their bedroom among their favourite things about their home, compared to 69% of children aged 4-10.
A garden came second, with 45% of all children surveyed saying it was one of the things they liked most, followed by the living room.
Dave Bexon, Group sales and marketing director for Redrow Homes, said: “As a business we’re collectively refocussing our efforts to provide a ‘Better Way to Live’ for our homebuyers. This isn’t just a snappy slogan, but a principle that we all work to and something that influences everything we do as a company, from the way we design our developments, build our homes and interact with our customers.
“We were keen to uncover what people feel makes a better way to live and understand what homebuyers, specifically parents and their children in this instance, are looking for from a new home. Priorities can change over time, so conducting independent research such as this helps us to ensure we continue to build the types of homes people really want to live in, with the features that are important to them, in desirable neighbourhoods.
“Families are one of our key market segments so we were particularly interested to hear from parents and their children about their priorities for a home. It also helps us when marketing our homes to know what information is most important to our customers, so they are armed with the key facts that will influence their decision on whether or not to buy.”
The survey of 509 parents and the same number of children was carried out by independent market research company Censuswide for Redrow.
Redrow has homes for sale in more than 120 prime locations across England and Wales, from city apartments to rural retreats and family friendly developments in the suburbs of some of the UK’s most desirable towns and cities.
For more information, visit www.redrow.co.uk.
