1. Boxed in
It’s not just that young adults today can’t afford grand homes – they don’t want them. Or so it is in North America, where minimalistic, boxy living is in. Earlier this year in New York, developers began work on the first micro-apartment block. My Micro NY will feature 55 prefabricated flats averaging just 300 sq ft. In Canada, NOMAD has created a swish 10x10ft flatpack home, available for a mere $25,000. And in Madrid, one architect has created an ingenious 100m³ flat connected by ladders. Proof that living in a box doesn’t mean you can’t think outside of it.
2. The fetishisation of ex-local authority flats
We’re talking specifically about the inner London boroughs here. As property prices in the capital become increasingly ludicrous, how long will it be before the maturing hipsterati convince themselves that the once-universally maligned ex-local authority flats are, in fact, now the chic-est thing since fixie bikes? Just look at the Barbican. Who would have guessed that as little as two years ago anyone would willingly, happily even, pay over half a million quid to live in one if it means being in zone two?
3. Lego living
Entire residential towers made in factories and then piled high on their chosen plots? That is what is happening in New York, where Skanska and FCS Modular are building the world’s tallest modular residential tower. The individual units, which are being built in a warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, are ready-made flats entirely kitted out, right down to the heated towel rails, before being clicked together, Lego-style, at the Atlantic Yards scheme. Building blocks are already in place for more of the prefab towers. How long before the craze hits the UK?
4. BOGO‘F’
Galliard Homes’ “surf and turf” property package hit the headlines in March. The scheme offers buyers a one-bed flat in Lewisham and a “free” lodge overlooking Fistral Beach in Cornwall for a mere £325,000 all in and was designed to cash in on the £120m-a-year UK surfing industry. If the package works, it could open the door for similar BOGOF offerings: how about Proper-Tee (sorry), a London pad plus a Scottish bolt-hole for golf lovers; or Clicks and Mortar (again, sorry): a tiny capital crash pad to complement a principal abode in tech meccas Croydon or Cambridge.
5. The tax avoidance timeshare
So, a controversial one. Imagine a world where a global residential property fund is set up that builds and owns homes in all of the world’s top cities plus a few select holiday destinations. Those who invest get access to a property in each of these cities for a maximum number of days a year to make sure they don’t pay income tax in any country. Obviously, this is terrible form. And certainly not something we advocate. But you could just see it happening, couldn’t you?
6. Can’t cook, don’t cook
The stateside dining-out culture is fuelling a left-field trend in New York: flats in which there is no kitchen in each unit but rather a cooking space shared between apartments. The reasoning? As more people are prepared to compromise on space to live in city centres, why not do away with a room you’ll hardly ever use? It could be a while before we see this one reaching UK shores, though. It is likely to send most Brits into a panic spiral that could cause us to choke on the cornflakes we lovingly prepared – in our own kitchens, thank you very much.
7. Pour and go
Why bother with a number of varying surfaces and materials when one will do? Architect Keiichi Kiriyama has redesigned the interior of an apartment in Japan by turning it into a stark homage to concrete. Everything, from the floors to the ceilings and the walls to the work surfaces, has been created using either a raw or polished version ?of the material. If you like to shop in All Saints you’ll fit right in here. ?On the plus side – it’s quick, simple and probably pretty easy ?to clean.
8. Chilled ceilings
Forget under-floor heating – so last decade. When the air conditioning dries out your skin, what else is there to do other than invest (for a hefty sum) in chilled ceilings? Usually restricted to super high-end luxury properties – including the apartments in Candy & Candy’s One Hyde Park scheme – we reckon this trend will soon catch on across prime resi developments and refurbs. Why? Because it’s ludicrously louche, entirely unnecessary and will, therefore, attract a vast amount of investment interest.
9. Getting up close and personal
Often dismissed as a sure-fire short cut to ghetto living, the often mooted but never fully realised trend of schemes designed for a particular type of person could be here to stay. PRS stats suggest that renters are 70% more likely to renew their leases if they know people in the same building. Could retirement homes be the tip of the iceberg? How about blocks of flats for people who like dogs/One Direction/watching Disney films while wearing comedy onesies? This is one trend we’re not excited about. But it’s worth a look nonetheless.
10. Acton as a new golden postcode
We all know that rocketing London house prices will cause a ripple effect. It’s already happening. But when luxury resi developers such as Amazon Property are eyeing Acton as a location for their next high-end development, it puts things in perspective. If it feels like a long way out, that’s because it is. But, crucially, it is accessible by Tube. If you hit the end of the line, you’ve gone (one stop) too far. As the developers of London’s new urban villages say, it’s all about the doughnut. If you build in that commuter ring, the buyers/renters will come.
emily.wright@estatesgazette.com
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