Making room for your ‘boomerang’ offspring
With a huge increase in the number of young adults residing at home with their parents, a house that offers flexible living space and at least two bathrooms is pretty much essential.
According to the Office of National Statistics there are 20% more 20 to 34-years-olds still living in the family home than in 1997. They’ve been labelled the ‘boomerang generation’, grown up children who return to live at home after university and / or starting work because they simply can’t afford to own or rent a home of their own.
So how do parents accommodate their not-so-young children and allow both themselves and their offspring to enjoy the space and privacy they need?
A home like the five-bedroom Cheltenham at Redrow’s Kings Park venture in Worcester may be the answer.
Two of its five bedrooms can be found on the top floor – otherwise known as ‘rooms in the roof’ – with a bathroom between them; making it the ideal space for two older children or for one young adult to have his or her own bedroom, a separate living area and a bathroom, all conveniently tucked away from the rest of the household.
The first floor master bedroom has its own en-suite, as well as a walk-in wardrobe, the two remaining bedrooms on this floor share a ‘Jack and Jill’ bathroom and there’s a cloakroom /wc on the ground floor for guests.
“A house like this is ideal for families who are experiencing the boomerang generation. Grown up children can enjoy some freedom and privacy on the top floor, leaving their parents and younger siblings to share the middle floor. There are ample bathrooms so that no one is left waiting and the Cheltenham’s ground floor accommodation is spacious enough for the whole family,” Pauline Turnbull, sales director for Redrow Homes (Midlands) explained.
Priced from £414,995, the Cheltenham has a lovely open plan kitchen, breakfast and family area with room for a dining table that seats eight people, as well as a casual seating area. This means that the allocated dining room can be designated as an extra sitting room, playroom or study in larger households – and parents will still have the spacious lounge for peace and quiet or more formal entertaining.
And there’s more good news for families who are ‘bursting at the seams’ in their current home – Redrow’s five-bedroom detached Cheltenham can be bought using the Government-backed Help to Buy scheme, which allows purchasers to take out an equity loan for up to 20% of the initial purchase price.
It’s available on properties up to £600,000, so a £414,995 Cheltenham can be bought for the reduced price of £331,996. Purchasers should only need a 5% deposit and the 20% equity loan is interest free for five years.
Kings Park is a development of four and five-bedroom family homes, currently from £374,995, only two miles from the centre of Worcester. It’s bordered by some 20 acres of woodland, providing welcome green spaces, yet the M5 and M42 are an easy commute away.
The Westminster style show home at Kings Park is open daily from 10am to 5.30pm. For more information, visit redrow.co.uk/kings.
