How has Coronavirus changed what buyers are looking for?

Lockdown has been an unfamiliar time for everyone in the UK, it’s something we’ve never experienced, having to stay months on end inside your own property only to leave on the odd occasion to go shopping for necessities or do your daily exercise.

The furlough scheme was also introduced, meaning a lot of people where off work, so many have suddenly found themselves with a lot of time off with little to do.

Many have taken to improving their DIY skills, spending time tending to the garden or doing home work outs.

The time people have spent in their house, and developing these skills they may otherwise not have has meant that it’s changed a lot of peoples view of their "dream" property purchase.

There’s been a shift in the market as to what people are looking for, here are just a few of the things that are becoming increasingly important due to lockdown:

More bedrooms

People are looking for bigger properties. Being locked in a house for months has meant that people are wanting to spend that little bit more to find something a bit bigger, having an extra room for an office or a gym for instance.

Those who were looking for a 2-bed terrace previously, for instance, might be wanting to look for a 3-bed semi-detached to give that bit extra space.

Larger garden

Gardening during lockdown has soared, if you ever tried to get any DIY gardening equipment during this period then you’ll know what I mean, there were queues that lasted hours just to get on some retailer’s websites, let alone order anything.

People spending more time gardening has seemingly meant that they want to be doing more of that in the future, as many are looking for properties with larger gardens in their next purchases.

Meaning if you are selling a property with a larger garden, you might have a bit more luck or achieve a better sales price post-lockdown!

Bike storage

With the one exercise a day rule enforced during lockdown a lot of people took to activities you could do for a long period of time to spend extra time out of the house, like walking or biking for instance.

This also meant a lot of people buying bikes and cycling equipment, still now it’s extremely hard to get your hand on anything bike related with most shops sold out due to unprecedented demand.

With the newfound health kick and expensive bikes bought, people are looking for a safe way to store them in their new properties.

Properties that have additional space for bike storage are being seen as favourable.

Extra space & home gyms

So, this one kind of overlaps a bit with a spare bedroom.

Working from home has meant people have had to create makeshift offices out of their living or dining rooms which is far from ideal, especially if you have kids!

People are wanting extra space for their offices or home gyms in their new property, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an extra bedroom, but a well-insulated garage or small area that you could turn into an office has suddenly become a more desirable feature.

Moving out of the city

For city dwellers lockdown doesn’t seem to have been as fun compared to those in a little more rural areas, this may be due to an overlap of some of the previously mentioned things such as not having a garden, having a smaller property and not being able to go on a safe bike ride through the city street.

This was particularly evident in London, as a lot of people in the capital look at moving to less crowded areas.

Looking to move, struggling to sell? We can help

Not quite got the large garden or extra space that people are looking for in this new post-lockdown age?

If you’re struggling to sell then we may have the perfect option for you with our fast 7-day house sale process. We’ll buy your property for cash, anywhere in any condition, quickly! Our quote process is no obligation and we’ll get back to you with a rough offer in as little as 24 hours.

Why not give us a go?