Garages, gardens and bungalows ‘among most popular home buyer searches’

Garages and gardens have topped a list of property “must-haves” for house hunters across Britain.

The findings are based on analysis of searches made on property website Zoopla over the past year.

With their practical ground floor layouts, bungalows were another popular search term used by people hunting for properties on the website.

Laura Howard, a consumer expert at Zoopla, said: “The once unfashionable bungalow continues to make a comeback highlighting an ageing population that wants to enjoy the benefits that single-floor living provides.”

1. Garage

2. Garden

3. Parking

Searches for larger detached homes for growing families were also common, as were those for properties in a rural location or with a sea view.

The analysis also found that searches for cottages were particularly common in the Midlands, northern England, the East of England, the South West and Scotland.

While garage was the most popular search term used generally, house hunters in London were most likely to crave some outdoor greenery, with garden being the most common search term used there.

With property prices in London being higher typically than elsewhere, Help to Buy was another popular search term used in the capital.

In Wales and Scotland, house hunters appeared to be particularly likely to be looking for privacy, with the search term secluded appearing on their top 10 lists.

Here are the top 10 search terms in Zoopla’s analysis:
1. Garage
2. Garden
3. Parking
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Annex
7. Freehold
8. Rural
9. Acre
10. Sea view

And here are the national and regional variations:
East Midlands
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Annex
7. Acre
8. Rural
9. Cottage
10. Driveway

East of England
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Annex
7. Acre
8. Rural
9. Pool
10. Cottage

London
1. Garden
2. Parking
3. Freehold
4. Garage
5. Detached
6. Balcony
7. Help to Buy
8. Pool
9. Bungalow
10. Flooring

North East
1. Garage
2. Garden
3. Parking
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Rural
7. Sea view
8. Acre
9. Cottage
10. Driveway

North West
1. Garage
2. Garden
3. Parking
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Rural
7. Driveway
8. Cottage
9. Annex
10. Freehold

Scotland
1. Garden
2. Garage
3. Parking
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Rural
7. Secluded
8. Acre
9. Sea view
10. Cottage

South East
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Detached
5. Bungalow
6. Annex
7. Pool
8. Driveway
9. Sea view
10. Rural

South West
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Bungalow
5. Annex
6. Detached
7. Sea view
8. Acre
9. Rural
10. Cottage

Wales
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Acre
7. Rural
8. Sea view
9. Annex
10. Secluded

West Midlands
1. Garage
2. Parking
3. Garden
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Driveway
7. Annex
8. Acre
9. Rural
10. Cottage

Yorkshire and the Humber
1. Garage
2. Garden
3. Parking
4. Bungalow
5. Detached
6. Annex
7. Rural
8. Driveway
9. Cottage
10. Acre