FAMILIES TURN TO LOFT CONVERSIONS TO INCREASE LIVING SPACE.

Sep 10
07:25

2010

Liz Fletcher

Liz Fletcher

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By Felix Fortescue, Property Analyst. With Britain’s population bulging to well over sixty million and strict planning laws still rigidly in place I wasn’t surprised to hear how loft conversions had become more popular than ever.

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Growing families seem increasingly determined squeeze more juice out of their orange by opting to extend living-space in the home by opting for a loft conversion.

Annexes,FAMILIES TURN TO LOFT CONVERSIONS TO INCREASE LIVING SPACE. Articles converted basements, loft conversions and conservatories are all ways in which it seems we are meeting the housing challenges of the new century by maximising the potential of our properties.

With an aging population and children remaining at home with mum and dad for longer, it is not uncommon nowadays to have several generations living under one roof, and the loft conversion is the most obvious, self-contained, practical solution to over-crowding.

Apart from the added amenity of a loft conversion, there is also the undeniable satisfaction that one has created a number of square meters of rentable real estate, which will enhance the property’s value on paper.

In west London, where I live, I’ve noticed that despite the decline of the buy to let market, builders are still finding steady work performing Loft Conversions and such like.

In the Notting Hill and Holland Park areas I have bumped into a builder a few times who works for Clinton Foakes Building and Development.

He said that a growing proportion of the work they carry out is performing loft conversions.

This had reminded me that cities like London will see a significant squeeze over the next 20 years unless more green and brown field sites are tagged for development.

London has become locked-in by green-belt boundaries which are designed to prevent suburban sprawl, but it should be noted again by policy-makers that there is only a finite amount of space on these islands...

The government needs conduct what will be a painful reassessment of the planning laws if it aims to avoid a housing crisis over the next 50 years, and the boom in loft conversions is an early sign of things to come.

Check out London Loft Conversions by Clinton Foakes Building & Development !