The new housing paradigm

Sometimes, when the social changes are so slow that they are barely perceived until the reality imposes itself forcing us to open the eyes. Other times, the circumstances are accelerators of the transformations and everything happens so fast they hardly let room for assimilation. 

The pandemic has been a change vector in many aspects of society which in the case of construction opens the door to a new housing paradigm. Over the centuries, the houses have been modifying their structure, design, materials… Without going a long way back in time, today we are surprised when a recently built house does not have two bathrooms, for instance. 

The 99 days of lockdown have been useful to detect the lack that the homes present and to redefine a model of housing with new demands adapted to a new reality which, at any moment, can impose another confinement. 

In the demand of that typology, some basic requirements have been presented such as terrace and landscaped outdoor areas that guarantee freedom of movement. The requests for homes with terrace or garden have been increased by 40% compared to before the lockdown, regarding chalets, the increase has been 36%, country estate 46% and semidetached homes 24%. 

These demands convey an exodus from the big cities to less populated areas. Idealista estimates a 40% decrease in the search for a property in big capital cities after the state of alarm. People look for places with less population pressure and more free and outdoor space. 

Furthermore, in this new home design, the arrival of telecommuting has also contributed to the demand for houses with a space to telework with good conditions of lighting and ventilation. Having a room that serves as an office is a growing demand. 

The figures show the growing tendency of the teleworking implementation. A research by the Valencian Institute of Economic Investigations points out that in 2019 in Spain only 4.8% of the employees practiced this modality that boosted up to 34% during the lockdown.

We are, therefore, facing a new process of transformation of the housing model that, no doubt, will mark the strategies of the developer and builder companies in the upcoming months. 

#telework #newhomes #coronavirus #realestate