Homeowners go open-plan

Posted on 30 January 2008

No Comments

The UK's homes have lost 2.9 million rooms in the last five years, according to a study from Halifax.

The desire for open-plan living appears to be spelling the end of the formal dining room, with a reported 500,000 set to be demolished in the next 12 months alone.

The study, which polled over 1,400 UK homeowners, concludes that if the trend continues the dining room will be 'extinct' by 2020.

"Britons have clearly fallen for open-plan living and are looking at ways in which they can make better use of the space inside their homes," said David Rochester, head of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance.

"In many ways it's sad to see the decline of the formal dining room, but it appears that they may have become superfluous to modern living where people are perhaps less likely to eat together."

Furthermore, the report says that 170,000 utility rooms will be incorporated into kitchen areas and 125,000 studies will be knocked through to create bigger living quarters.

Category: House and home, Property

• Save to del.icio.us
• Digg this story