Like most areas in life, the features home buyers most desire are subject to changing fashion and priorities. During the pandemic, everyone wanted bigger homes and more outside space and the most desirable features of all were homes offices and garden rooms.

Now we are all moving back into our cities, the home office is not being used quite as much as it once was and those garden rooms that we lusted after that we often turned into gyms are no longer the envy of our friends because exercising on your own gets boring!

So what are our priorities now?

Research shows that there are currently three key features when it comes to selling your home and these are:

A breakfast bar – just as it sounds, it is a casual spot where you can eat breakfast. It is somewhere between a large shelf and a kitchen island and will often be found secured to a wall. Because it adds another distinct area, it is part of the ‘broken plan living’ trend and is especially useful in smaller kitchens where it will add extra eating or prep space. And, best of all, it won’t cost you a fortune. You can even build your own using a large pre-made shelf from your local DIY store. And research shows nearly 14% of homes that have recently sold have one.

A high EPC rating – the combination of high energy prices and an ever more environmentally conscious public have meant a home’s energy performance is becoming increasingly important. And, with around 20% of the UK’s emissions coming from our homes, the Government is pushing hard to get our housing stock to net zero and that may mean the legally required improvements that are coming for the lettings industry will soon be applied to normal homes too.

The surprise is that the data shows that EPC ratings are in second place as a desirable feature to breakfast bars, with just under 13% of recently sold homes having an EPC rating of C or above.

A kitchen island – in third place, it’s back to the kitchen and the ever-popular island. It is the sociable centre of the kitchen and that may explain its resurgence in the best feature rankings after the isolation of the pandemic era came to an end. It needs a decent-sized kitchen/home, so is something of a luxury item for many. If you’ve got the space, it’s easy to see why they are so popular, as they can house lots of extra cupboards and a huge amount of extra workspace. They also tend to be visually appealing, too. Islands feature in 12.6% of successful sales.

The also-rans include freestanding baths at 11.1%, doer-uppers at 10.4%, wooden beams came in at 9.7%, dressing rooms at 9.5% and high ceilings at 9.2%.

Some of the items at the opposite end of the scale were pools at 5.6% and, as we referred to earlier, large gardens are clearly out of fashion at 7.1%.

But remember, if you are selling your home, just try and make the most of what you’ve got. It’s more important to make it sparkle rather than going to the time and expense of squeezing an island into a kitchen that is too small, as it will only make it look cramped and reduce its desirability.

Breakfast bar image courtesy of Litfad

Scandinavian Bar Table

www.litfad.com