Would Bungalows Be The Answer?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2480819/Most-pensioners-want-end-days-bungalow-claims-planning-minister-wants-single-storey-homes.html

In view of the lack of homes for the growing population, would the answer be for more bungalows to be built, thus releasing some pensioners large multi bedroomed houses, so as to house families?

The plus side they would also be quicker to build than two storey houses, on the negative side they would use up more land per person.

[Tilly2]

DO you remember prefabs ? We should build them again.

[Tilly2]

........and stick all the old people in them

[FredPuli43]

In its submissions to the planners, our village has defined one site as for 6 bungalows. That's because we have residents who want to downsize, as they are getting on in years. That would get their present, larger and inconvenient, houses on the market while leaving themselves in the village

[seadogg]

Houses are generally more economical to heat. I would have thought pairs of semi detached smaller houses, fitted with stair lifts, would be more economical.

[anotheoldgit]

Tilly

Your idea may be a good idea, sections made of heat insulated materials, manufactured in a factory and assembled on site.

Not sure I like your second post though eg .......and stick all the old people in them.

Your term "stick" is rather insensitive, it seems to suggest that 'old people' are nothing more than cattle, to be placed in pens without any choice of their own.

Just remember we all become 'old people' one day.

[anotheoldgit]

seadogg

/// Houses are generally more economical to heat. ///

I am no expert, so I would be interested to know how you came up with that reasoning?

[nannybooby]

I would love a bungalow ,don't dis them. Stair lifts what a nightmare no thanks

[mallyh]

a lot of old people don't want to move from their houses where they have their memories of happy times.

[Ric.ror]

I always think sheltered accom. is a brilliant idea for OAP's
One of the main problems for them is a sense of isolation - SA would help with that

[mallyh]

i went from a 3 bed house to a 2 bed bungalow ,love it .call it my fungalow

[Old_Geezer]

Of course the real issue is the growing population which governments have yet to bother tackling. In the meanwhile every little helps, but I don't believe one idea will be a full solution. Bunglaows can be popular with the elderly as there are no stairs to negotiate, by definition; but for many change is to be avoided, especially as one gets older and want stability and familiarity; so at best this idea may help a little. The other side of the coin being for the same number of rooms you would be building on twice the area; which is not so good.

[sandyRoe]

"End their days...", in the headline hasn't got the most positive of rings to it. I'd guess there are enough bungalows available for those who can afford them.

[youngmafbog]

End stamp duty. That would encourage many to downsize, myself included as I dont need the great big house I have. No one want to move and hand their hard earned to the Government so they stay put. I know a lot of people stuck like that.

I am not sure Bungalows are less efficient to heat these days. Providing correct insulation is installed I think you'll find it is pretty close now.

[youngmafbog]

I would dispute the quicker to build too. The bricks are not so high but there is plenty of them, the roof tends to be bigger too.

[susanxx]

Build bungalows in the same format as park homes, but as a timber framed house. The floorplan of a park home offers 2 beds, en-suite, bathroom, fitted kitchen, dining room and lounge all in a 40x20 foot space. Fantastic layout just the way they are made that is the down side.

[cazzz1975]

Bungalows take up a lot of ground space, retirement villages are more sensible

[jno]

a little cottage in which the only stairway is to heaven... yes, that does appeal.

Quite right, Tilly, prefabs for the postfabs.

[FredPuli43]

Heating and cost. The bungalow has a larger footprint than a house with equivalent accommodation, and costs as much to build. Heat rises. It follows that heating a smaller ground floor helps to heat the upstairs floor, whereas that cannot apply to a bungalow, hence the thinking that heating the house costs less.

[sp1814]

It seems an attractive solution - more bungalows to release larger houses to families. But the build of these one storey houses may be complicated by location.

So many places where the elderly would want to live are high value - what I mean is, it may be cheap to build an estate of bungalows 40 miles away from town centres, but that would lead to a feeling of isolation amongst the owners.

And as for the idea of little cottages with stairlifts - anyone who has seen Gremlins knows that's a terrible idea...

[FredPuli43]

Building an estate of bungalows costs no more than one of houses, but you may find that the gardens are smaller. That is no problem for the elderly, who are not likely to want to manage a bigger garden. In this village we are aiming to build all bungalows near the village shops and post office, to minimise the inconvenience to old people. But it's a high value area; a typical house or bungalow fetches £600,000 +. Since we are aiming for downsizing, this price will not affect buyers. And that is true of all areas; the local price is the local price, whatever it is. Nobody is building ghettoes for the old, many miles from anyone else.