How Australians are switching for homes with a study and smaller kitchen rather than houses with an outdoor area after the coronavirus pandemic
- A separate study area was the top indoor priority for 20 per cent of Australians
- This outranked big kitchen (15 per cent), outdoor entertaining area (18 per cent)
- Westpac survey found coronavirus had made people reassess what they wanted
More Australians prioritise having a study over a large kitchen or an outdoor entertaining area, Westpac has revealed.
The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically changed tastes in must-have features for a house.
Before the lockdowns, only a small minority of Australians worked from home and the study was often an afterthought as a converted bedroom or a section of the lounge room.
More Australians prioritise having a study over a large kitchen or an outdoor entertaining area, Westpac has revealed. One in five, or 20 per cent, of respondents nominated a separate study as a top priority in a survey the bank commissioned. Pictured is Brisbane high school student Violet Barras
Share this article
Two months after COVID-19 restrictions came into force, having a separate study was the No. 1 priority for 20 per cent of respondents to a Westpac bank survey.
By comparison, a large kitchen topped the list for 15 per cent of people while an outdoor entertaining area was the key criteria for 18 per cent of Australians.
Westpac's managing director of mortgages Anthony Hughes said coronavirus had changed what Australians wanted in a home.
By comparison, a large kitchen topped the list for 15 per cent of people surveyed. Pictured is a house at Turramurra on Sydney's upper north shore that is on the market
'For many of us, staying home for an extended period has changed how we use the space we live in, whether that's home schooling from the kitchen table or setting up a makeshift office in the lounge room,' he said.
'We are also seeing people wanting their homes to cater for both their professional and personal lives, with one in five Australians wanting a separate study as more businesses adapt to working remotely.'
More than three-quarters or 77 per cent of the Westpac survey's 1,176 respondents declared they would prefer to live in a house than an apartment.
With suburbia preferred over an inner-city apartment, the backyard was by far the most sought-after feature, with 27 per cent nominating it as their top priority.
A third or 34 per cent of respondents wanted to live somewhere less overcrowded.
A similar proportion, 31 per cent, wanted to be closer to either parks or shops while 20 per cent sought suburbs with larger properties.
The Westpac study, carried out by Lonergan Research in late May, found the ideal house would have a backyard with a separate, an outdoor entertaining area, a large kitchen and a balcony.
This home would be close to local parks and shops in a suburb near the beach with walking tracks that was not too overcrowded.
An outdoor entertaining area was the No. 1 priority for 18 per cent of Australians. Pictured is an house for sale at Hendra in Brisbane's north
