New Year, New House
Houses, like the weather, are always a hot topic with the British. The last few decades the property market has been driven by people seeing it as a way of creating capital just as much as enjoying a home. Add to that the massive media coverage in every format of renovation, creativity and design it is little wonder there is an obsession with property. House prices and mortgage rates regularly hit the headlines and everyone produces surveys depicting the ebb and flow of the market. The government has issued targets for new home building to meet the demand of a growing population and it is clear the national house builders are attempting to meet those targets. There is conflict with planners who have a wider agenda to preserve the identity and integrity of the area they cover but that is another discussion altogether.
I find many clients now look for new houses with minimal maintenance and energy costs, preferring to spend their time on leisure, family and holidays. So there is a increasing demand for not just large new developments but also bespoke new housing. Many look at existing housing with the intention of redeveloping the site, thereby finding sites that otherwise prove elusive and creative minds take us forward to a new era in housing. So bring in the media programmes, the publications and the architects..
As well as conventional new build houses there are many bespoke house builders and innovate designers building “pre-fabricated” homes to 21st century standards –Baufritz, Scandia Hus are but two and London based architects D*Haus are taking creation to another level with the hybrid house that moves, an ingenious idea that takes property to passive house level, maximising all the attributes of an individual site.
So, if Christmas holidays find you discussing buying a brand new house in Devon what are the options....well it appears there are many for all tastes, ages and budgets. The common theme is for minimal maintenance, running economy, clean lines and a crisp, contemporary interior. Architects and developers are all embracing this and a style is clearly emerging that will, in time, be attributed to the era as many styles have before.
A development of six houses at Cedar Court, Rockbeare tick all the boxes for family living –full details from Jackson Stops and Staff (01392 214222), who also offer St. Aubyn’s Rise in Tiverton. Savills (01392 455755) have one property left at Watermeadow, Payhembury and for the mature buyer Stags are offering Blue Cedar’s development at Stannary Court in Chagford. Looking ahead Acorn Blue (01637 503570) have secured planning at Pebbles Drift, Westward Ho! for fourteen houses with water views across the River Taw to Braunton Burrows with an application pending for the conversion of the Lee Bay Hotel to twenty four apartments..
Across the county there are numerous developments of all sizes and for all budgets. Devon is certainly leading the way in providing homes for an expanding population in a county that has been voted one of the best to live in –so why not make the move - “it’s all about coming home”
Nigel Bishop
Founder & Managing Director of Recoco Property Search