{"id":16546,"date":"2018-04-26T13:07:22","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=16546"},"modified":"2018-04-26T13:07:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:07:49","slug":"all-grown-up-and-nowhere-affordable-to-go-solutions-for-fitting-in-the-whole-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/all-grown-up-and-nowhere-affordable-to-go-solutions-for-fitting-in-the-whole-family\/","title":{"rendered":"All Grown Up and Nowhere (Affordable) to Go: Solutions for Fitting in the Whole Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s official: current twenty-somethings, affectionately dubbed \u2018Millennials\u2019 are now living longer at home with family, and even moving back home after university. The Office for National Statistics (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/visual.ons.gov.uk\/living-with-parents\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ONS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) have released data demonstrating that there are now approximately 3.4 million \u2018youngsters\u2019 aged 20 to 34 still living at home with parents &#8211;<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that\u2019s more than a quarter of this whole age group across the UK.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As far back as 2014, a study by Shelter not only predicted this rise in the number of young adults still living at home, but also said that this would exceed 50% within the space of a generation unless affordable housing solutions were found by the government. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But in the absence of such solutions, this rising number of adult children living at home increasingly means more than one generation of grown ups could be living under a single roof. As such, parental homebuyers are frequently taking action of their own to accommodate the whole family &#8211; with a jump in demand for homes which offer extended, or \u2018granny annexe\u2019 type of accommodation, as reported in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/the-millennials-are-moving-back-in-25ks9b8zk\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Times.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Accommodation situation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ONS survey outlines many reasons why adult \u2018children\u2019 are living at home longer, many of which relate to financial considerations and constraints, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Affordability <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; with wages stifled by austerity, a lack of affordable rental accommodation and fast-rising property prices are combining to price young adults out of the UK property market.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Saving <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; these same young adults now need to stay at home longer to save for a property deposit, especially as the average amount needed for a first time buyer deposit has also increased in line with rising property prices.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A ready example of this is in London, where the average price of a first time buyer property hit the highest on record in July 2017, at \u00a3409,975, compared to the general UK average of \u00a3207,693 (Halifax First Time Buyer Review).<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Education costs <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; young adults are also struggling with financial headaches caused by steep university tuition fees (and living costs). These issues have created a rise in \u2018commuter students\u2019, young adults attending university but still living at home in an effort to cut ongoing costs and forthcoming student debt.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whilst annexes and extensions have traditionally been considered as potential additional accommodation for older relatives to be part of the family home, but with their own space and independence, the above financial considerations and chronic housing shortage now mean that extended living accommodation is needed on a multi-generational basis which includes Millenials too.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>All grown up \u2026 and going up<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although planning consents have been regraded to offer \u2018light touch\u2019 planning in response to the housing crisis, making it easier for home owners to extend and improve the accommodation they have and fit in families of grown ups, large ground floor extensions can still be prohibitively expensive. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But whilst ground-floor living may be essential for accommodating older generations of the family, when the generation which needs accommodating is still relatively young going up into the roof can be the less expensive, lighter-planning and younger-legs alternative to building out.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Attractions of attic accommodation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ironically, converting a loft for extra accommodation doesn\u2019t have to result in a feeling of living on top of one another, as there are several ways in which a loft conversion can create attractive accommodation which fits both family living and the whole family\u2019s finances:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Value added <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; whilst the conversion will obviously cost money it can be a useful way of spending on the home with a potential return on investment: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationwide.co.uk\/guides\/news\/all-news\/2016\/04\/what-adds-value-to-your-home\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationwide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> suggest a loft conversion can increase the value of a property by 21% and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.abbeylofts.net\/advice-faqs\/knowledge-base\/how-much-value-does-a-loft-conversion-add-to-a-property\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abbey Lofts <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">find this could be 24.5% in London.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatmortgage.co.uk\/housing\/building-upwards-living-space\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Mortgage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also advise that adding a new floor \u201ccan often add significant value, particularly in high-demand urban markets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that for many parents, helping adult children save for their own place by creating accommodation for them could bring an increase their own property value &#8211; a win-win for everybody.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Versatile accommodation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span> &#8211; creating a loft conversion which incorporates a design such as a master bedroom suite can allow semi-independent, self-contained accommodation, which always has potential to be used as a guest room after adult children finally leave home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the loft space is extensive and can be divided up to offer additional spaces alongside a master bedroom suite, such as a kitchenette, then it\u2019s possible to facilitate as much independence (and accommodation for alternative uses) as necessary. To keep the space light and airy, transparent materials can be used.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>No storage sacrifice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; converting the loft doesn\u2019t necessarily mean having to sacrifice the rest of the family\u2019s storage space. Professional loft design includes plenty of ideas for installing custom furniture and building storage into eaves, and creating space-saving, storage-solution stairways.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Claiming the space<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span> &#8211; as well as offering a versatile accommodation solution, converting the loft in order to gain accommodation for adult children doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they have to be the ones using it. An alternative consideration is to create a luxury Master Bedroom as a sanctuary for yourselves as parents, then pass the old parental bedroom to the uni-student offspring to use as well as their old bedroom, so they have a bedroom and a study or leisure space, whilst as the home-owners you get to enjoy a bespoke bedroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Solution smallprint<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with any proposed accommodation solution, it\u2019s essential to consider the small print. If you\u2019re creating accommodation in the loft, ensure you:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take fire safety advice and work in compliance with fire safety regulations. This is especially important if your design will include a kitchenette, for example, to help ensure that the whole family isn\u2019t just accommodated, but is also as safe as possible.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider sound transfer to and from the rest of the home, particularly if other bedrooms are on the floor below the loft room. Acoustic insulation materials are available to suit most loft conversion budgets, so check with your loft professional about suitable products to suit the situation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, back to where multi-generation living began, with the grandparents. Although you might be considering a loft conversion to accommodate those twenty-somethings now, this versatile accommodation option can also benefit the family if one of the older generations needs to move in later on: a family member with those younger legs can move on up there, to allow room-shuffles on the floor or floors below, making space downstairs for one of the older generation to move into. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, a loft conversion can really offer the space solution for all generations of the family, now and in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s official: current twenty-somethings, affectionately dubbed \u2018Millennials\u2019 are now living longer at home with family, and even moving back home after university. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have released data demonstrating that there are now approximately 3.4 million \u2018youngsters\u2019<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/all-grown-up-and-nowhere-affordable-to-go-solutions-for-fitting-in-the-whole-family\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":16547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[1,13,14,16,9],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":null,"_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/loft-conversion-bedroom.jpg","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/all_grown_up_and_nowhere_affordable_to_go__solutions_for_fitting_in_the_whole_family","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16546"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16549,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16546\/revisions\/16549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16546"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=16546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}