The sturdy, sensible single-storey homes are having a renaissance – but that may just be to do with Britain’s broken housing market
British bungalows have a beige reputation. These single-storey dwellings are often thought of as sturdy and sensible, and are rarely considered to be glamorous or lovely. In 2007, the then Prince Charles called bungalows “homogenised boxes” and accused them of ruining the natural beauty of the Highlands landscape. Yet according to recent reports, the once humble bungalow is now “seriously cool” and in high demand – the average price of a bungalow rose by 17% in the year to May 2023, compared with 13% for houses and 5% for flats. Are people finally starting to fall for their homogenised boxy charms?
I can be rude about bungalows because I live in one, having bought my first house, a bungalow in Warwickshire, two years ago, at the age of 39. I am as surprised as anyone to hear that they’re “seriously cool”, though I have long harboured suspicions that they are far better than their reputation would suggest. Noted enthusiasts before me include Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who in 1882 was encouraged to move to one of the first bungalows built in Britain, in the hope that the Kent air might improve his ailing health. He died there. Changing Rooms legend Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has also gone on record as a fan and previous bungalow owner, writing in the Mail that his was “gloriously pungent with rose-scented associations of suburban bliss”.
Rebecca Nicholson is a columnist for the Observer and the Guardian
