More homeowners creating space for open-plan living

By TIM CORNWELL
HOMEOWNERS are shunning traditional house layouts in favour of open plan living, pouring money into creating “social areas” and ditching designated dining rooms, hallways and kitchens, according to research.
Once the preserve of the urban trendsetter, open-plan living is now being replicated nationwide as householders shun 20th Century traditions of rooms with specific single functions.
More than a fifth of homeowners (21 per cent) have taken a sledgehammer to their home’s walls in the past ten years, while an equal proportion are currently planning to do the same, according to an analysis of Britain’s housing stock by Lloyds TSB Home Insurance.
The survey, of 2,000 people, also revealed that one in four of today’s homes have a utility room compared to just one in ten of the houses homeowners grew up in, while one in 50 homes has a gym.
To create social spaces more conducive to modern lifestyles, a third of people have sacrificed a separate dining room, 18 per cent have converted a garage and 12 per cent have ditched a single-purpose kitchen.
However, while certain rooms are being lost, new ones are creeping onto household particulars.
Kitchen-dining rooms – the hallmark of open plan – have grown in popularity by 50 per cent in a generation and three in ten of today’s homes now have one, with many people using it as the social hub of their house.
An analysis of planning applications in eight district councils – Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton – found that of the 210 applications submitted, 35 per cent were to create an open-plan space.
Simon Hamilton, international director at the British Institute of Interior Design, said: “Property particulars are starting to look very different.
“Houses, especially older properties, were designed with people’s lives in mind, with set rooms for set activities. But as times change so does what we want from our homes.
“With our increasingly hectic lifestyles convenience and sociability have become key, which is why kitchen-diners and games rooms have grown in popularity. In the next ten years, the majority of houses will be designed in this style.”
Recognising that open spaces will make their property more saleable, 10 per cent of homeowners have spent more than £35,000 adapting their properties, with 5 per cent investing more than £50,000. However, the works have not always gone smoothly, with one in five (19 per cent) reporting that damage was caused during the building work, with an average cost of £8,000.
Paula Llewellyn, head of marketing services at Lloyds TSB Home Insurance, said: “Rather than moving, people are adjusting their own property to create their dream home and the living space they need and it’s clear to see that open-plan living is what modern families want.”
Edinburgh architect David Blaikie has carried out about 20 open-plan conversions in the city.
He said: “Virtually any of our work for the post-war building sector is doing exactly that.
“It’s a lifestyle thing; it’s about creating space; it’s also about generally young families, mothers cooking, children watching television, doing their homework, playing, whatever they are doing, and eating all within the same sort of space. It’s more inclusive for everyone.”
In a recent project in Blackhall, Mr Blaikie worked on a bungalow where he “scooped the insides out and almost doubled the size”, he said.
Another project involved demolishing an existing extension on a late Georgian town house, and creating a new structure with five rooms – kitchen, sitting area, family eating area, formal dining room and family television space – all linked together through the back wall of the house.
Andy Whyte, of Lucid Architecture in Glasgow, said: “A lot of people have Victorian terraced houses or tenements in Edinburgh or Glasgow with small kitchens.
“They were designed with a kitchen that wasn’t intended to be seen, it was just small and functional, or not even very functional. What you have got now is a lot of people who are opening up to make kitchen, dining, and living spaces, maybe all three functions in one spaces, and it’s a move away from formal living as well.
“We’ve got a huge existing housing stock which to some extent might not have been changed for 100 years or more.
“Separate dining rooms are so pointless, they maybe get used a few times a year if you are lucky. That’s what I see, I agree with the statistics.”
He added that British estate agents still tend to focus on the number of rooms in a property, so there can be a risk of reducing value. In most other countries, properties are valued by total floor area and quality of construction, as well as location.
He said: “We tend to count rooms. But you can add value by making a really nice kitchen space, it’s the first thing people look for.”