Customer Survey

Tomorrow's Homes Today

The findings in this section are based on research with potential buyers of new homes (6 focus groups) and with owners of property incorporating innovative features. The researchers talked to one focus group of owners of homes incorporating digital home technology in Peterborough. They also talked to owners of a state of the art modular Taunton.

They also undertook a quantitative study of owners of timber and steel frame properties and compared them to a matched sample of traditionally built homes from the same house builders. 218 home owners were interviewed, face to face in Kent, Liverpool, Wales and Hampshire.

Awareness of innovation

Most people had heard of timber frame and several had noticed homes of this type being put up during their viewing of new developments. There was also a little awareness amongst the potential buyers of steel frame houses. There was awareness that modern homes have better insulation these days. Other types of innovation that were spontaneously mentioned were:

Solar heating panels
Air conditioning and venting rather than standard heating radiators
New style radiators, 'curly radiators - a coil going up the wall'
Central vacuuming
Smoke alarm/water sprinklers
Homes geared for digital TV and computers
Energy saving light bulbs
Loft conversions
More wood being used externally on houses (windows and exterior boarding)
Some awareness of modular homes

However for many, innovation in construction was a closed book. Many women were concerned mainly about the cosmetic aspects of construction. For them, interesting design.

Attitudes to brick and block versus timber/steel frame

For most consumers, brick and block was the preferred method of construction. It was seen as familiar, solid and reassuring.

There was very limited awareness of steel frame homes. The image of steel frame construction was generally favourable. People expected it to be strong and long lasting. A small minority of buyers worried that steel might make the home more expensive, that it might be damp and that it might be too inflexible and cause problems later in the life of the house. Overall however, steel frame was perceived in a favourable light.

Attitudes towards timber frame housing were split. Some potential buyers were deeply suspicious but many accepted that this was becoming a standard method of construction for new houses. The concerns about timber frame were as follows:

Worry that it might be a fire hazard
Concerns about whether shelves and pictures could be securely attached to the walls
Concern that use of timber is just a cheap substitute for brick and block and that it is not such a strong method of construction
A few vague memories that TV programmes had warned of the danger of timber frame homes
Some reports that if the cross beams were incorrectly installed, sound could transfer from one house to the next one

Although some were adamant they would never buy a timber frame home, there were signs of growing consumer acceptance. Many respondents accepted that timber frame houses were becoming a familiar part of new house building. It does seem that there would be much more consumer confidence in this method if the benefits to buyers were clearly spelled out and if reassurances were given about its reliability and robustness.

There was fairly widespread awareness that timber frame houses were reputed to be warmer than conventionally built ones. Some potential buyers had also discovered that this type of construction offered more opportunities for flexibility in the design of the home.

Comparison of attitudes towards innovative and traditionally built homes

The results that follow are based on the findings from 218 in home interviews with a matched sample of brick and block, timber frame and steel frame home owners.

People living in timber or steel frame homes were much more aware of the method of construction used for their homes than owners of traditional brick and block homes. The percentages of each that were able to name the type of construction used, including after prompting, were as follows: Brick and block 59% Timber frame 69% Steel frame 93%

In order to test how well timber and steel frame homes performed, the researchers asked owners of these homes how much they agreed or disagreed with a series of attitude statements. The responses were then compared to those of people living in comparable brick and block homes constructed by the same house builder.

Overall, owners of non-traditional homes were a third more likely to rate their standard of finish and construction highly than were brick and block home owners.

Part M compliance

The Government has recently tightened the regulations (known as Part M) governing the ability of the disabled and infirm to access and live in new homes.

The researchers asked the occupiers of 86 Part M compliant houses about their attitudes to these changes, what features they were aware of and what, if any, concerns they had about them.

Overall the response from homeowners was low key and uncritical. Most had noticed some features and felt that the changes were perfectly justified. It was a sensible idea to make homes accessible to visitors in wheel chairs.

"I think it's a good idea to do this disabled access stuff because who knows? Maybe one day you will need it yourself" (Part M compliant homeowner Peterborough)

In the quantative survey 86 of the brick and block, timber and steel frame homes were Part M compliant. The following tables are based on the views of these home owners. When the home owners were asked if they were aware of any features in their homes to improve accessibility to wheel chair users, the following were mentioned.

81% of the sample said that none of these features had caused them any concern. Only a small minority (9%) had any concerns about the features. The main complaints were that lowered light switches were now more accessible to small children and this could be a nuisance factor. There was some feeling that features such as ramps and raised plug sockets looked unsightly. A couple of people found that the wider doors had been incorporated without thought for the rest of the home design and some difficulties had resulted. Overall, however, there was no groundswell of opinion against the changes.