By collating answers from 2,000 respondents from across the UK, Strutt & Parker’s latest Housing Futures survey results give a refreshing insight into the housing desires of the population.
Strutt & Parker decided to take a look at the differing answers supplied by men and women to see how much they varied and if any trends emerged – and the results were interesting.
When asked to rate their motivations for moving, a number of other differences were observed:
When it came to dream home items, the survey revealed that 14% of men wanted a cinema/screening room and 12% wanted a wine cellar. In contrast, 24% of women rated an AGA oven as their top home accessory, while 18% wanted a kitchen island.
While both sexes agreed that “Traditional British” was their favourite type of interior design, certain styles scored much more highly with women than men, including Warehouse Loft, Simplistic Scandinavian’, Classical French and Exotic Indian. On the other hand, 1950s/60s/70s Retro was preferred by men.
Men preferred Stark, Grand/imposing and Cool feelings to describe the character of their home. While for women, Quirky/creative and Calm/relaxing ambiences were more popular.
When it comes to outside space, men are far more interested in living on or near a body of water than women, perhaps to enjoy pursuits such as sailing and fishing. Homes with sporting facilities such as gym, pool and tennis were also more popular with men, although more women were keen on equestrian amenities.
When looking at the type of home services you might receive if you lived in a managed apartment block or private rented sector (PRS) unit, men tended to be far keener on convenience and practical amenities. Having a porter/doorman, in-house cleaning services, car sharing, banquet services and refrigeration drop-off storage were all far more popular with male respondents. For females, it was important that pets were allowed, and disabled accessibility was also a priority.
Environmental features appeared to be of more importance to men than they were to women. Code Level 5 ratings, renewable energy, living walls, grey/potable water and green roofs were all markedly more popular with male respondents.