© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
Down-sizing has been a growing phenomenon; be it among the single, rich and happy’s (‘Sarahs’), the smaller mortgage – ideal lifestyle (‘Smilers’), growing numbers of people are making the conscious decision to alter their lives, allow a better work/life balance, and insodoing are down-sizing their homes. Whether this is driven by a dream to opt out of full time work, finance a second home abroad, or by hard reality, such as a divorce, the trend is a move to smaller or less costly homes, freeing up cash for a new lifestyle.
According to a report by the Prudential almost one million 35-54 year-olds are making serious plans to downshift for various reasons out of necessity or desire. Today, 25% of children live in a single-parent household; meanwhile, the number of overseas homes owned by the British has doubled in ten years.
Barry Stiles, sales director for David Wilson Homes, says: “We are seeing a growing demand for smaller homes. But one thing stands out, when homes are being bought by people down-shifting, buyers demand the same quality of specification that they enjoyed in their former larger home.”
But the view of several housebuilders is that there are now too many apartments being built and the pendulum needs to swing back to a broader mix of categories. According to Scottish developer, CALA Homes, the demand for apartments has been strong due to the rapid growth of smaller households. But this market has “weakened significantly” after the proportion of apartments being built by the UK housebuilding industry as a whole soared to unprecedented levels in a short space of time – from 36% in 2003 to 55% in 2005. CALA has reversed the industry’s trend of constructing an increasing proportion of apartments by reducing its production of apartments by 9% in 2005 and this has contributed to record profits for the group.
CALA Homes’ executive chairman, Geoff Ball says, “Good developments that will stand the test of time need to provide a broad mix of housing to cater for every type of household - from apartments to larger detached homes.”
While figures suggest that more people are looking to purchase smaller living accommodation, including apartments, some homebuilders are frustrated by what they see as government restraints that force them to build smaller units with a resulting downturn in their profitability. Others have a real fear that there will be a serious problem with over-supply of high density smaller properties.
In many city centres across the country – particularly in the Southeast – the market for apartments is reaching saturation point and housebuilders are underlining the need to provide a balanced housing mix on their developments. Ball and other developers believe that there is growing recognition that the government’s drive to deliver new homes at ever-higher density may be starting to exceed what is sustainable. “The right homes aren’t being built in the first place,” says David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewomes.com, a leading new homes website. “Starter and family homes are in short supply but there is a danger of over-saturating the market with apartments, especially in some city centres.”