New build, detached property in the countryside is ideal

The nation's ideal home is a new build, detached property located in the countryside, according to new research from Halifax mortgages.

Property type

Half of people (50%) would prefer their ideal home to be a detached house, followed by 17% a bungalow, 13% a conversion, such as a barn, castle, mill, school or vicarage, 9% a cottage and 5% a semi-detached property.

Location

When it comes to the location of their ideal home, almost one third (30%) of people would choose the countryside, followed by one quarter at the seaside (25%).

'Desirable' and 'Essential' features

The 'warmth factor' is a key part of the ideal detached house, with almost all respondents (94%) considering central heating and over four-fifths of them considering double glazing (86%) to be essential. This is followed by a fitted kitchen (79%), a modern bathroom (78%), off-street parking (65%) an enclosed garden (63%), garage (56%) and a home security system (55%).

When it comes to those features of the ideal detached property that are considered to be desirable, but not essential, a conservatory features highly (66%), followed by environmentally friendly features (63%), energy and fuel saving measures (56%), loft conversion (55%), utility room (55%) contemporary fixtures and fittings (54%), energy efficiency measures (53%), study (52%), fitted bedroom (51%), greenhouse (48%) and a cellar conversion (46%).

Size of rooms in the ideal home

In order to establish the size of the rooms in the ideal home we listed all the potential rooms of a house and asked people to consider how much time you would spend in each room.

Not surprisingly the master bedroom comes out on top (5.65 hours), followed by a lounge/ diner at 5.29 hours.

How many hours spent in which rooms and at what time of day

Other rooms that may not be amongst the ten most common rooms, but are used frequently if they exist include a conservatory and a playroom. Where these rooms exist people spend up to 2.45 hours per day relaxing in their conservatories or 1.72 hours per day in their children's playrooms.

The typical house would therefore be a three bedroom property, with a lounge/ diner, study, kitchen/ diner, conservatory, playroom, family bathroom and toilet. The preference for the lounge/ diner (5.29 hours) over the lounge (4.78 hours) and dining room (1.90 hours) and the kitchen/ diner (3.26 hours) over the kitchen (2.56) and dining room (1.90 hours) reflects the nation's increasing trend towards open plan living, especially when it comes to eating areas. In addition, the high proportion of people spending a lot of time in their study in the evening not only reflects the nation's dependency on home computers, but also the tendency to work from home on a regular basis.

Decoration and aesthetics

People in the ideal detached home would find the sitting room/ lounge (38%) and kitchen (37%) the most important room to them in terms of it being designed or decorated in a way that they found appealing. This compares to the overall average of 40% for the sitting room and lounge and 32% for the kitchen.

In addition, within the ideal detached house it is the size of room (32%), style of kitchen (24%) and size of the home (18%) that is likely to make the greatest impression on people.

Phil Jenks, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Although many of us live in towns or cities, there is no disputing that a house in the country is what the majority of us aspire to. The preference for new build detached properties shows that people want their home to be personal to them and that space and privacy is also important."