An award-winning SME housebuilder today called for single‑storey “lateral living” to be a core plank of the UK’s housing strategy to free up family homes and meet the needs of an ageing population.
New research from the HomeOwners Alliance has revealed bungalows are the top choice of homes for 38 per cent of older homeowners. But fewer than one per cent of new homes built in the UK last year were single-story houses.
Sophie Horgan, managing director of Midlands developer Horgan Homes, is calling on policymakers and local planning authorities to put bungalows back at the heart of Britain’s housing mix.
The Alliance’s figures show one in seven over‑55s, 1.2 million people, wanted to move in the past two years but abandoned plans.
Horgan Homes is a developer of new build luxury bungalows and has recently launched its latest development in Lincolnshire.
Sophie said: “For too long, single‑storey homes have been treated as a niche, when they’re actually a smart solution to unlock chains, help people age well, and free up much‑needed family houses.
“Horgan Homes has established a reputation for its single‑storey ‘lateral living’ spaces and we know from our buyers that demand is strong when the quality is there.
“We want to see a bungalow bounceback in the UK – with pragmatic steps within local plans to improve viability of bungalow‑led schemes while maintaining quality and place‑making standards.
“There is an ambitious Government target of 1.5m new homes, but unless there is a focus on including bungalows in the mix, we could be left with housing stock which is not fit for purpose when we have an ageing population.”
Horgan Homes has recently launched its latest development at Mareham-Le-Fen, a development of 30 bungalows and dormer bungalows and Sophie is currently on another site in Lincolnshire building bungalows for E5 Living.
“But getting serious about bungalows isn’t just about older people,” Sophie Horgan said. “It’s about right‑sizing the whole market: when last‑time buyers can move into accessible, energy‑efficient single‑storey homes, larger family homes are released for the next generation.”
Horgan Homes won Best Small Housebuilder in the UK in 2023 in the What House Awards for her development of luxury bungalows in Worcestershire.