It’s no surprise that lockdown changed the way we live.

What is interesting, though, is that these changes might not be a temporary thing.

Our experiences in 2020 may radically change major parts of our lives, starting with our properties.

Along with upping our property porn habit and making us ponder a move to the countryside, it turns out that the option to work from home is still a priority for homebuyers.

According to Rightmove, there has been a jump of 326% in properties being marketed as being suitable for home working.

This includes listings mentioning terms such as ‘office’, ‘workspace’, and ‘working from home’.

It makes a lot of sense – months spent in less than ideal home working setups does rather make you crave space for a proper home office.

Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister said: ‘With the requirement for many people to work from home, we’ve seen workspaces evolving from laptops balancing on the end of the bed to fully equipped home offices in the garden shed, and everything in between.’

Along with traditional home office spaces, Rightmove also reports an increase in demand for outbuildings and annexes, presumably for home office setups that sit apart from the main living space.

Searches using the site’s keyword tool to look for outbuildings are up by 90% compared with a year ago. Searches for annexes are up by 89%.

‘No chain’ searches have also jumped by 110%, which Rightmove says could indicate that people are looking for a fast move so they can take advantage of the stamp duty holiday which ends in March 2021.

As a result of all this desire for extra space to accommodate flexible working, larger four and five-bedroom homes have emerged as the biggest ‘winners’ of the property market, speeding up their average time to sell by 30 days.

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