Bungalows

boxer234

NQManchester said:

I lived in a bungalow for a year and quite enjoyed it. We have two small kids so it was good not having to run up and down the stairs fetching things all the time.

Our only issues really were that it is harder to stop noise travelling from living room to bedrooms and harder to keep our dog out of the bedrooms.

The garden was decent sized and although north facing it was 95% sunny because you didn’t have an extra storey blocking the sun. 

It’s just me and the dogs who are free range so noise not a problem I hope. 

Jaybee_16

Bought a bungalow last year. Wasn't particularly looking for one but it fitted what I was looking for so bought it. 
No dark corridors here, has a big garden but that's one of the things I wanted and maintenance is easier.

Need to replace the guttering in the spring and can do it with a step ladder, no scaffolding required. 

boxer234

Thanks everyone I’ll check it out bungalow living sounds good. 

MalMonroe

Teapot55 said:

boxer234 said:

Hello everyone.  I’ve been house hunting for a while.  I’ve seen a bungalow I like the look of.  Is there anything I need to consider? Are they harder to mortgage?  I understand they can be costly to heat.  

Three things I’ve noticed that bungalows seem to have that might make me think twice but other people might decide they can live with 

•  narrow, dark corridors with lots of doors 
•  beautiful but huge gardens requiring hours of regular maintenance 
•  a shower in the bathroom but no bathtub 

All three things you can also get in houses or flats as well.

Narrow dark corridors with lots of doors? Where?? On movies, mainly.
Beautiful but huge gardens aren't a given with either houses or bungalows. I live in a flat and we have allocated garden space. That's enough to manage but we can also use the other bits of garden if we wish. Most of us don't wish but we're all neighbourly and friendly anyway. Thank goodness.

Shower in the bathroom but no bathtub would be great for me, I hate baths. Sitting in your own dirty water and then having to scrub the blinkin' thing when you get out. Showers use much less water and it's clean. We have a shower over the bath right now, it's not ideal but it will do for now. (And we still have to scrub that blinkin' horrible bath!) 

JosephK

Bungalow can be more expensive to buy because of demand and fact that they usually occupy more land than equivalent size house but this is not necessarily so. You need to do some price comparisons in your chosen area. 

We like our bungalow even though/because it has a huge garden. But that is down to location in street, others have relatively small gardens. As with most things, the answer tends to be "it depends."

mrsmsebastian

badger09 said:

I've often wondered why younger families don't buy them, as they usually have much bigger gardens than similar sized houses. Good to hear some do!

We are young family of 5 and we bought a bungalow in 2020 for the reason that I can easily keep an eye on my kids whilst cooking food in the kitchen.  The children has plenty of space to play outdoor as we have large garden area front, side and back. Very peaceful to live in as well as our neighbours are mostly elderly. We already set our minds that we are staying here until we get old

macman

lincroft1710 said:

Why would they be costly to heat or harder to mortgage? They are just a house with all the accommodation on one floor.

Because you have a much higher ratio of ground area to roof area...and heat lost through the ground floor does not serve to heat the upstairs. 
However it's not a simple either/or comparison, as a bungalow is almost certainly going to be post 1940 and have cavity walls, whereas the conventional house may be sold walled and relatively poorly insulated.

Thumbs_Up

I’m looking to buy a bungalow in a area with the neighbours being old fogies anticipating good old fashion society values. I didn’t think bungalows appealed to young families, how wrong was I.

 

 

lincroft1710

macman said:

lincroft1710 said:

Why would they be costly to heat or harder to mortgage? They are just a house with all the accommodation on one floor.

Because you have a much higher ratio of ground area to roof area...and heat lost through the ground floor does not serve to heat the upstairs. 
However it's not a simple either/or comparison, as a bungalow is almost certainly going to be post 1940 and have cavity walls, whereas the conventional house may be sold walled and relatively poorly insulated.

My father lived in a bungalow for a short time and his heating bills did not seem excessive for a small property.  I've lived in several houses with central heating and never did the escaping heat from downstairs have much effect on the upstairs rooms.

FreeBear

Thumbs_Up said: I’m looking to buy a bungalow in a area with the neighbours being old fogies anticipating good old fashion society values. I didn’t think bungalows appealed to young families, how wrong was I.

Most of the bungalows along my road are now owned/occupied by younger families. The ones still in the hands of the "old fogies" will remain until they shuffle off.