New research from property website, Zoopla, reveals that the UK remains home to plenty of petrolheads with searches of ‘garage’ and ‘parking’ ranking in first and third place respectively. Proving that green-fingered Brits still love their own outdoor space, ‘garden’ is in second place.
‘Bungalow’ is fourth on the list as an increasing number of older people seek to live on one level. House hunters searching for space and privacy put ‘detached’ in fifth place, while ‘annex’ ranked as the sixth most popular search term as Brits look to house multiple generations or growing families.
At a regional level, Zoopla’s analysis shows that people are looking for properties that make the most of a local area’s characteristics. Those looking for homes in the South West are hoping to snap up a coastal retreat, with ‘sea view’ and ‘cottage’ making the top ten search terms.
In the East of England, property searchers are after a rural idyll with ‘acre’ and ‘rural’ high on their list of priorities along with ‘pool’. Londoners searched for ‘garden’ more than any other term despite outside space coming at a premium. London’s higher property prices, and its less affordable market for first time buyers, is shown by ‘Help to Buy’ also making the list, and there’s clearly an appetite for ‘freehold’ property with this term making it into the Capital’s top ten.
Home hunters in Yorkshire and Humber are keen to embrace country living, with ‘rural’ and ‘acre’ making their top ten list of most searched for terms while in Scotland, people value their privacy with ‘secluded’ being a key priority when searching for a property.
Top ten keyword searches across UK and regions:
Andy Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer at Zoopla, comments: “Keyword searches are a useful gauge of home buyer priorities, and offer an insight into how people are living today. They can also inform agents on which attributes to highlight in a listing, which in turn enhances searchability amongst home hunters.
The prevalence of ‘garage’, ‘parking’ and ‘driveway’ demonstrates that the ability to park a car can determine whether or not a buyer will arrange a viewing. Gardens are similarly popular, and should always be mentioned in a property’s listing.
There are some interesting regional nuances that are worth considering, too. ‘Rural’, ‘acre’, ‘secluded’ and ‘annex’ aren’t necessarily front of mind when writing up a property, but prospective buyers in certain regions are clearly associating them with their property wish-list.
Buyer preferences evolve over time, and ‘electric car-charging point’ and ‘smart home’ will no doubt emerge as search priorities in due course, particularly as eco-living and automated properties become more mainstream.”
