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Been looking at houses in a speculative way and not seeing anything at all that fits my situation.
It's just my girlfriend and I, both circa 40 years old. No kids, no plans to have any.
We've got a good budget and looking in central Scotland, but outside of the cities though with decent transport links into them.
Everything seems designed for families - lots of small rooms, suburban housing estates. We only need something with one bedroom and the rest would be larger open plan space with a decent level of quality for the finish. Easy access to outdoor space/parking etc. Have a garage and so on.
There's stuff in the cities - apartments in the quartermile in Edinburgh for example. But we don't want city living.
Is it just that we're such an edge case that town houses aren't built for middle aged childless couples?
Even generic googling about housing for us just gives info on mortgages and inheritance planning...
You sure they haven't just been selling fast AF?
I peruse what's available with varying degrees of intent, and the properties I look at and think "oh, that works" are often off the market in less than a week.
Couple, 40s, no kids here.
One bedroom house. Great as a holiday let.
Barn conversion?
1-bed houses are pretty rare, especially with a garage. I live in a coach house style flat (flat above 3 garages, one of which is mine and no one above me - I think built as fillers by developers to maximise use of space...). Big lounge compared with small houses I looked at (generally 2-beds but with second bedroom being more like a cupboard) although in reality I have so much junk I could use a decent size second bedroom.
If you're only looking at houses you prob need to be looking at least at 3-beds before you get ones with decent ground floor space
Why not get a 2 or 3 bed bungalow and keep the main bedroom and knock through the rest of the rooms to be more open plan and spacious? I'm assuming buying outside the cities may be a bit cheaper so budget left for the conversion.
We've relatives in that position.
They just used the extra bedrooms. Their previous open plan space caused conflict when one wanted to watch TV and one wanted to read, so when they moved, instead of beds in the extra rooms, they have a study, a hobby room etc.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen a new house that fits OP description, but as above, probably an older bungalow that would suit. In fact we bought one last year that you might consider perfect (it was for us!) - 2 bed chalet bungalow (one bedroom now an office which worked out well!), but very spacious & big plot with Detached double garage. Purpose built in the 60s as a one-off retirement bungalow (I.e. not built by a developer) and then modernised about 12 years ago so loads of big windows, lots of light, nice modern kitchen etc. You need to check Right Move every day though, we went to view it as soon as I saw the listing & it already had an offer on it 😳 as you say, not a glut of similar properties.
Not central belt but is this the type of property you are looking for?
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107948333
That one in Duns is still a bit old fashioned and just seems like lots of small rooms? Was thinking something much more modern.
Not something you see as new builds, huh? Guess it would just be a conversion.
I take the point about being fast and checking online every day, but was just kind of browsing to see if anything even exists.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108023234#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/87787382#/
^ Best move fast, neither will be on for more than a few days.
Stirling, BofA and Dunblane all offer what you would like - nice place, great transport, good access to hils/rivers/riding.
It's weird because the housing stock doesn't work for what I see as a growing demographic of buyers. Folks in our position, maybe each person had their own city flat and selling both to move out of the city.
I know lots of couples in that situation. In fact, probably 50% of the couples I know at ~40 years old don't have kids and aren't planning on (or just can't) having them.
That one in Duns is still a bit old fashioned and just seems like lots of small rooms? Was thinking something much more modern.
If it's a modern house taking out walls will be far cheaper than an old house - you need to expand your 'mind' 🙂
And FWIW we've a barn/mill conversion in The Borders and downstairs is just one room, with a set of huge glass doors at the lounge end that we never shut. Took a lot of converting, but I just took the (non-load bearing) walls out.
Works great for us (kids have all left).
Moon on a stick!
One bed houses with large living areas don't make economic sense for builders. This is self-build territory.
Is it just that we’re such an edge case that town houses aren’t built for middle aged childless couples?
Pretty much. Most people want bedrooms and not everyone likes very open plan houses. The sort of house you are after is really one you get built yourself. I happen to like the sort of house you are describing but they are not common outside of barn conversions.
Looking forward to seeing you on Grand Designs.
Don't let Kevin near the Mrs if you want to live in a one bed !!
Buy one you like the shape of and knock walls through?
There's only 2 of us, but having 2 spare "bedrooms", one set up as an office, one as a guest bedroom/storage space is very useful.
A big open downstairs I can see, but that's not too difficult to do with a bit o labour I wouldn't have thought.
And one bedroom places tend to be 'affordable', ergo small, flat, somewhere you can get it for cheap.
End of our road - complete with swimming pool, 5 min walk to station and shops, nice views, parking,
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107944346#/
Edit: What is your budget?
I know lots of couples in that situation. In fact, probably 50% of the couples I know at ~40 years old don’t have kids and aren’t planning on (or just can’t) having them.
Self selecting dataset? I'd say 90% of couples I know have kids, perhaps the childless demographic you are talking about isn't actually that big? That developers aren't building 1 bedroom houses with huge rooms either because they've looked at the data and theres no market or selling houses with tiny box rooms is more profitable.
My Street is 50% 2.5 bed(3rd room is either too small for a double or sometimes even a single bed) new build bungalows, all bar 1 (mine which contains a family of 5) are occupied by age 50+ couples. Once the kids have left home we'll be buying something similar further north and knocking through the rooms to make it more open plan or do a self build to get something like you wanted.
Older two bedroom properties might work. Older properties tend to come with more outside space and outbuildings. Our house is 1860's but it only had 1970's partitioning so we have taken that out and are fully open plan downstairs. Upstairs could also really easily be one massive bedroom. Summer house in the garden and you are sorted for unwanted guests too.
As said, it doesn't make economic sense to build a new house with only 1 or 2 bedrooms but lots of space, a developer can sell the same floorspace for more as a 4-bed house and almost all new builds have limited garden / outbuilding space to maximise inside space which adds value to the sale price. Also consider that in much Local Plan planning requirements, a 1 bedroom house in a development (more than 10 houses) wouldn't be allowed more than 1 parking space for instance, so to get a double garage and external space for a small house you are basically looking an individual plot developments, self-build or conversions.
Yes there is a huge market of both mid-40s and retiring parents where the kids have left home, who want the external storage and internal liveable space but don't need the bedrooms, that means a big percentage of 4 bedroom homes only have 2 adults resident. But that isn't going to change any time soon because losing / converting a bedroom wipes value from the asset.
Budget would be £400-500k?
Wasn't really looking for the hassle of building/converting myself!
I know lots of couples in that situation. In fact, probably 50% of the couples I know at ~40 years old don’t have kids and aren’t planning on (or just can’t) having them.
Do you know them because they have similar amounts of free time and disposable income to yourselves? I'm all for child-free lifestyle, but I think your sample may be a tad biased.
Most houses built from the 70s onwards will have trussed roof construction, so the upstairs walls are non load bearing*, and perfect for easily rearranging into fewer, larger upstairs rooms.
*obviously get this checked before you start swinging the sledehammer.
Wrong location and over budget, but large open plan space and only one bedroom:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107618687#/
That's brilliant ha!
That's pretty unique!
I'm buying that when I win Euromillions tonight! 🙂
HAHAHHAHHAHAH
It has a....
Automatic heated driveway.
WTaF
Nice spot - the front garden is a disputed gravel ride for me, back garden / woods has film companies using it for Outlander.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108187085#/
Almost the most desirable street in Dunblane - enclosed park to the rear proudly guarded by the residents.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107330123#/
Gargunnock - stunning views.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84340651#/
It's not just an issue for the childless, most new build houses in the UK are pretty horrible, and most older Victorian type houses aren't really all that practical.
Combine that with the crazy over-inflated market where anything half decent gets snapped up almost as soon as it goes on sale (or even before)...
Edit: Just re-read: £4-500k budget for a house for two people, in Scotland, and you're moaning about not being able to get what you want. 🙄
Build your own - a bit further from station, but only 5 mins beyond Dunblane.
https://www.onthemarket.com/details/9129909/
Build your own
Yeah, this - I really like the look of these buildings.
https://www.hebhomes.com/our-homes/layout/lh202
Can probably get them to build exactly what you want if you find a nice plot.
I know lots of couples in that situation. In fact, probably 50% of the couples I know at ~40 years old don’t have kids and aren’t planning on (or just can’t) having them.
It sounds to me like you want a nice little bungalow. Time to accept you've become old.
There's plenty of people fitting your demographic around here - in fact in this street there are probably 70% of people >40 who don't have kids. I don't know what they are all doing with the space, but once you become more remote do you need a spare room for visitors? once more rural you may prefer to work from home? do both of you work from home at the same time? if you want open plan living where do you hide all the clutter etc.
You want a true bungalow, big spacious 2 bed with a garage.
Failing that a 3 bed house and take stud walls down. You might have to put the walls back up when you sell though.
New builds are horrible. The are building 5 beds into the floor space of a 3 bed these days. I can't think why people are buying them. Oh yeah WFH with 2 kids.
New builds are horrible. The are building 5 beds into the floor space of a 3 bed these days. I can’t think why people are buying them. Oh yeah WFH with 2 kids.
Just don't call then soulless.....
Tbh my grandparents just moved out into a new build on an estate from a 3 bed cottage in the country with a. Couple acre and double.garage that would have fitted your bill Actual house is nice I can see the appeal. It's got 2 bedrooms and open plan downstairs and is shiny (I think that's why folk buy em) downside is..... 3 neighbours out the back looking in your entire garden and back windows from theirs and the same out the front.
But for every house that isn't on an estate there's 50 or more available at any given time on an estate usually fixed price so you can see the ease of buying them if you have been doing outbid several times on other housing.
We got lucky here. Came on market with terrible photos . We arranged to view that day and offered full asking before end of the day....
When you say outside, do you mean right outside, or just outside the centre? The classic Edinburgh pre-war bungalow could suit, and there's loads of those through kingsknowe, fairmilehead etc. You tend to get a fair sized garden, lots have had garages added or conservatories, sunrooms etc. They're not open plan but they're big rooms and I understand they're pretty structurally editable- the dude that bought my grandparents' place planned to knock the (incredibly huge) bedroom and dining room together and make 3 rooms, ironically
converted church?
Be careful, if you click on this you may not be able to resist. 😀
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/80494890#/
Open an and outside of city (town or civilization) sold so link goes to pdf.
Build your own!
We were exactly the same position a year ago - we sold our house in Hampshire and moved into a rental in Scotland. Me and Mrs DB in our 50s, no children and looking to make one last move. We were looking at the self-build route, but at the same time we must have looked online at every property in Scotland in case there was something that fitted our needs. We were coming from a 4 bedroom Edwardian detached - there were at least 2 rooms in the house that were 'dead space' plus the kitchen was too small.
We liked the Isle of Mull and got in touch with a local builder who as it happened had just got planning permission to build 5 new houses. This house was a 3-bed 'upside down' house with a kitchen/diner/lounge upstairs. We ditched the idea, changed the layout it into a 2 bed, with kitchen/diner downstairs and lounge upstairs - we have dogs and nice to make the most of the view. Downstairs has a walk-in shower and upstairs a bathroom. Floor area is 100m2. There's also a detached garage/workshop.
Construction is a steel portal / super-insulated timber frame hybrid on an insulated slab, heating is Air Source Heat Pump with underfloor heating.
There are quite a few companies offering contemporary designs which can be customised, e.g. Heb Homes
Proper bungalow would be my choice, built with decent gardens, layout, build quality and internal space.
Rather have one of those than a Barrat 5 box bedroom house.
I've got friends looking for houses in Peebles at the moment. There's been barely anything on the market between £300k and £650k for months now.
It's a seller's market, and folk from down south are snapping up properties without coming to see them.
Good luck with the search. Supply and demand in full effect.
We've got a lovely 3 bed semi in Sheffield. Childless couple fit perfectly. Only 4 hours to Edinburgh by train. Yours for 500k 😉
Thanks for all the info guys - it's actually given me a few things to think about.
A lot of the houses posted don't really do it for me.
However the kit houses seem to tick a lot of boxes, as does the idea of converting a barn/church/industrial building...
Gives me a lot to think about - we're not planning on moving just yet, just trying to get an idea of what to look for. As you all say, you have to be pretty decisive and fast moving!
this one is two bed, open plan, no way designed for kids in the slightest, country living etc
not scotland though
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107618687#/
David Fordyce at Hawick distillery has been chuntering about lack of local small scale brewer in Hawick. He seems to know where there is backing. (I'll caveat that with last time I spoke with him was pre-covud so ....)
Don't really know Hawick that well. Maybe worth a day trip!
I'd probably want to stay a little north of Central Belt.
Most of my family is in Fife including parents who are getting a bit older. Plus sister and her kids who I'd like to see more of.
Girlfriends parents are in Bo'ness. They don't have great health so good to not be too far from them. She is learning to drive so she can help them out more.
Also rural living with the option of driving can be tough.
With conversions / older buildings you pay VAT on the building works, unless you're stripping is back to an empty shell and essentially rebuilding.
Also, whilst stone built is attractive, it can lead to problems with damp and poor ventilation if not done correctly which means breather membranes, air gaps, insulation which can make a considerable difference to the size of rooms etc. Lots of farm buildings e.g. steadings have no foundations or damp-proofing, just built on dirt which can also cause problems
Something I also learnt this week with new builds/redevelopments is make sure you get any additional outbuildings e.g. garages included on the planning permission such that it is considered part of the 'new dwelling', otherwise you'll get hit for VAT on their building costs.
Edit: Just re-read: £4-500k budget for a house for two people, in Scotland, and you’re moaning about not being able to get what you want.
And being lazy by not wanting to put any effort in the make it 'right'.
With conversions / older buildings you pay VAT on the building works, unless you’re stripping is back to an empty shell and essentially rebuilding.
Also, whilst stone built is attractive, it can lead to problems with damp and poor ventilation if not done correctly which means breather membranes, air gaps, insulation which can make a considerable difference to the size of rooms etc. Lots of farm buildings e.g. steadings have no foundations or damp-proofing, just built on dirt which can also cause problems
Yep, £30k of VAT we couldn't 'recover' when we did my Mum's place.
And our place is basically a wood framed house inside a stone building - so losing at least a foot across the width.
Me and MrsRNP are childless 40's with a house that ticks all of your boxes..........apart from being in Lancashire and not for sale!
The only way is to convert an industrial or self build. Me and MrsRNP have had a sideline in flipping industrial buildings for the last few years and there isn't much left that's suitable for conversion.
Got any pics MrRNP?
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Our house.
Next to river, mezzanine bedroom, open plan living room, flooring recycled from a school hall, downstairs is garage/creative/dog bed space. New aluminium windows, main door and roof being done this late summer.
The ones we flipped we bought, stripped and cleaned them up and sold them on with planning - we didn't fully develop them.
I immediately thought of a self build. But has the increase in cost and unavailability of building supplies made this even harder?
I remember on Grand Designs there was a childless female couple who did a relatively modest and cheap self build on the Isle of Skye which was single bedroom (IIRC)
I think rather than Grand Designs you need to look at a few episodes of Your Home Made Perfect; the conversions of some fairly average houses is astonishing, with sufficient money (not cheap!) and an architect with the vision. An average house and the money to convert could get you something stunning.
All the CGI and 'Wowing!' is a bit much at times, but look beyond that and the homes are the star of the show, and are much more attainable for normal folks compared to 'well the budget was £1.5M but we ended up borrowing another £350K off Tabitha's Papa'
Aye, I do see where you're coming from MrRNP.
Probably my ideal home would be a warehouse or hangar next to a river, with a small 1 bed apartment in the corner and the rest of it a workshop full of bikes, cars, guitar amps and a microbrewery. However my girlfriend isn't quite as enamoured with that idea as I am.