Inflation has finally dipped a little but is still riding high, and mortgage rates may still rise further: Britain’s households are suffering a pay squeeze. But what are home-owners still spending their money on – and what has fallen out of favour? Here is Spectator Life‘s guide to the winners and losers in the property market this year so far…
The winners…
Solar panels
High energy bills have kickstarted British householders into going green. During the first half of this year, sales of solar panels were up 82 per cent on the same period last year, according to MCS, the standards body. The hot spots of solar installations? Cornwall, Wiltshire and Aberdeenshire. Home-buyers are also keen on them, says Surrey buying agent Richard Winter. ‘Five years ago I’d only have one or two buyers if at all asking for them, but now more buyers are seeking them. However they must always ask if solar panels are included in the sale price.’ This Somerset property for sale has rooftop panels.
Veg patches
With the cost of cucumbers up 83 per cent and tomatoes up 50 per cent – according to the Food Foundation – is it any wonder more of us are growing our own? Kitchen gardens and greenhouses are in. Ed Jephson of Stacks Property Search says: ‘A vegetable patch is right up there on the list of must-haves for my clients relocating to the countryside. Even a couple of raised beds will do – as long as there’s enough space to grow some tomatoes, radishes and salad leaves.’ This house in Berkshire has a kitchen garden fit for a Michelin-starred chef.
Shabby-chic garden furniture
With hot tubs deemed far too expensive to run – B&Q’s head of home delivery reports that no one is buying them right now – we are turning instead to recycling. Clare Coode of Stacks Property Search says: ‘We are seeing simple claw-footed baths or weathered zinc tubs replacing jacuzzis with their flashing lights, sound systems and uber-high running costs.’ Shabby-chic gardens are having a moment, agrees Claire Carter of John D Wood’s Country House manager. ‘Home-owners are going to reclamation yards and doing clever things with apple-packing boxes or wooden pallets.’
Flower meadows
Another trend that has taken the country market by storm is the transformation of equestrian facilities into flower meadows. Inspired by King Charles’s ‘coronation meadows’ initiative to restore the UK’s threatened wildflower meadows, country house owners are embracing the same idea. ‘Rather than a redundant tennis court or something else expensive to maintain, meadows are a cost-effective and more bio-diverse thing to have,’ says Claire Carter.
Low-maintenance landscaping options are gaining popularity among home-owners and landlords – with climate change in mind. Bookings for drought-tolerant landscaping are up 35 per cent on a year ago, according to Aspect, a property maintenance company.
Wild lakes
Energy-eating swimming pools are out – see below – so instead those with the space and the means are looking a more environmentally friendly alternative: wild lakes. These natural bodies of water blend more seamlessly into the garden, without the need for harsh chemicals or those somewhat synthetic aquamarine blue tiles of traditional swimming pools. Jess Simpson, a buying agent, says: ‘Proximity to water has moved up the list for buyers: from a borehole to provide a private water supply, to a swimming pond (not pool!) for sporting and well-being activities, or a lake to maximise the biodiversity.’
Annexes
Buyers that didn’t need an annexe before are considering them when house-hunting as they can be used as a back-up income stream, says Michelle Hendrie, a West Sussex buying agent at Property Acquisitions. ‘Rental income can cover increased interest rates. As an added bonus, the buyer can also get multiple dwellings relief from the stamp duty.’ For deep-pocketed home-hunters, this property in the Cotswolds offers a separate cottage to rent out – as well as a vegetable patch, wild swimming pool and solar panels.
… and the losers
Fixer-uppers
Buyers’ appetite to renovate has plunged as interest rates have risen, reports Curchods, an estate agent in Surrey. Even if you can find a builder to do the work, it’s a challenge to figure out how much it will finally cost – the price of construction materials is up 72 per cent in five years, according to government data. That brick deliveries were down by 30 per cent in May, year on year, is perhaps no big surprise.
Swimming pools
We might well wish we had them on hot summer days, but right now our appetite for private swimming pools has nosedived. ‘I’ve seen several owners deck over their empty pools this year,’ says Claire Carter. ‘One Kent owner’s pool was costing £100 a week to run, so she decked over it, much to her children’s frustration. It was that or paying £1,000 to have it filled in.’
Sofas
Just like lipstick sales are the famous bellwether of tight times, so the purchase of big-ticket items such as sofas is dependent on either people moving house or splashing out on a revamp. Sofa chain DFS Furniture has just reported that trading conditions proved ‘significantly worse than expected’ and that in the wider market there has been a 15 to 20 per cent fall in sales. In contrast, sales of energy-saving air fryers and microwaves are up, according to John Lewis.
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