How Covid-19 Has Changed What Property Buyers Want

The last 12 months or more have been a strange experience for many of us. Those that have continued to work have had to adjust, in many cases, to a new way of working. This has meant the home being more crowded than usual, especially when the kids aren’t at school and when lockdown was at its strictest.

Perhaps an unexpected by-product of this is that many people have changed their priorities when it comes to ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves’ in their dream new home. So, what do buyers want?

Whereas short and easy commutes by road or rail and being close to local amenities were once highly prized, research suggests that this is now a priority for between 14% and 17% of people. Working from home and fast home delivery have, it seems, changed the needs of home buyers.

Additional space for a ‘proper’ home office is also high on the new buyer’s agenda as is a decent outside space or garden. If a nice garden is not available then proximity to green space is desirable. More space seems a common theme.

One can imagine that fast, reliable broadband that enables multi-user streaming services will quickly become a necessity for many, especially if a large part of the workforce continue to work from home at least for part of their work-week.