United Kingdom
Which amenities are popular in new developments? We reveal the results
Probably the most alluring trait of new build apartments, aside from the fact that all the door knobs work and you don’t have to climb the stairs to the 27th floor, is that they come with an array of amenities: concierge, pool, gym, cinema room – the list is endless. But the question is this: with our busy London lifestyles, how many of these do we actually use?
To this end we recently conducted a survey, taking in responses across London from both owners and renters, asking respondents what they used most and what they wished they had.
Popular amenities:
Unsurprisingly, topping the list of useful favourites was the concierge which was provided by 89% of all developments and used by nearly all of the residents surveyed.
Next came the gym. In fact, half of those who have a gym use it regularly, 82% use it at least sometimes and of those that don’t have one, 76% wish that they did.
Other highlights included:
- On-site retail with 65% using it regularly
- Where on-site dry-cleaning collection was available, it was used by over half of the residents
- Visitor car parking spaces were third on the list of things respondents wished they had and being widely used where available
Now, the swimming pool was a bit of sticky one: while 69% of those who didn’t have one wished that they did, only 28% of the 14% of people that actually did have one, actually used it on a regular basis. And in terms of total non-starters, there was the private dining room (never used by anybody ever) and golf simulators which suffered a similar fate. Perhaps architects could consider using that extra space for something more useful?
Apartment units:
Looking at the units themselves, the apartment layout was the stand-alone top scorer, with 88% of respondents rating it as either good or excellent. The buildings’ architecture was also highly ranked, as well as the overall specification of the property achieving a 78% good or excellent response. With regards to the rooms:
- 63% of respondents where happy with the overall size of the rooms
- 90% of people rated cooking space as at least adequate
- 37% of people said they simply didn’t have enough storage space
Unsurprisingly, apartment location was chosen via proximity to work, followed closely by price and budget with being close to public transport trailing not too far behind.
Essentially, the overarching theme to emerge from the survey was convenience – we want it. Be it a gym or grocery store onsite or a concierge to receive our parcels, London life is hard enough without things not being simple and convenient at home.
| Amenities | Wish I had out of total unavailable | Use regularly out of total available |
|---|---|---|
| Bike racks | 32% | 38% |
| Business centre | 35% | 11% |
| Car parking | 56% | 51% |
| Catering kitchens | 20% | 0% |
| Children's playground | 25% | 0% |
| Children's playroom | 23% | 0% |
| Cinema room | 41% | 18% |
| Concierge | 58% | 89% |
| Crèche | 23% | 2% |
| Dry cleaning collection | 34% | 32% |
| Electric car charging spaces | 27% | 4% |
| Golf simulator | 28% | 0% |
| Gym | 76% | 46% |
| Motorcycle/scooter bays | 16% | 13% |
| On site retail | 41% | 65% |
| Private dining room | 23% | 0% |
| Private gardens | 40% | 24% |
| Residents lounge | 30% | 18% |
| Roof terrace | 53% | 19% |
| Spa | 46% | 27% |
| Squash court | 37% | 0% |
| Storage units | 57% | 31% |
| Swimming pool | 69% | 29% |
| The public realm/landscape | 21% | 37% |
| Visitor car spaces | 64% | 29% |
