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Happiest Home-owners have nothing upstairs !

10-Feb-2005

Bungalows breed more contentment than any other type of home

Britains happiest home is a bungalow, and that's official according to new research* by Halifax General Insurance published today (10th February 2005).

After a two month research project, Halifax General Insurance found that the property which makes its occupants the most content has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small garden and, crucially, no stairs.

Bungalows towered above other types of homes after researchers quizzed house owners on factors ranging from security to décor.

The top-billing for bungalows might explain why they are the most sought after property type in the UK despite representing just two per cent of the housing stock.

According to the Halifax Happiest Home Report Britains happiest home is a remarkably modest affair. An estate agent might describe it like this:

Light and roomy three bed detached bungalow with two bathrooms in an area with excellent community spirit and a low crime rate. The house is in a good state of decorative repair with a small but well maintained garden. The property offers privacy but also has the convenience of local amenities.

Researchers used a combination of techniques to arrive at their conclusions including focus groups and surveys. They found that twelve key factors determine the happiness of homes: crime rate of the area, amount of space, sense of community, privacy, garden, amount of light, number of bathrooms, number of occupants, noise, number of bedrooms, neighbours and decorative state of repair.

"What is interesting is that there isnt a direct relationship between many of these factors and happiness," said David Rochester of Halifax General Insurance. "Take the number of bedrooms. Obviously much depends on the number of people living in the home but in the case of a two person household for example, the optimum number of bedroom seems to be three.

"As one of Britains biggest home insurers we were interested to find that factors such as crime rate, privacy and sense of community have a more direct impact on happiness which suggests that sense of security is a major determinant of a contented home life," he said.

The highest proportion of happy home owners are to be found in the Midlands** according to the report with 31 per cent of respondents rating the happiness of their homes a perfect ten.

People in the North West meanwhile had the lowest proportion of contented residents with just 12 per cent of home-owners rating their homes very happy, well below the national average of 23 per cent.