With first-time buyers struggling to get onto the housing ladder and the UK population continuing to get older, many self-builders are looking to provide accommodation for grandparents and adult children in their new homes. Julian Owen reveals how your property could suit everyone’s needs

Julian Owen

Steven and Janet McCurdy’s garage offers two parking bays, plus a kitchen-living space, bedroom and ensuite

Once labelled as the granny flat, then dependent relative accommodation and now known as multigenerational living, the concept of several generations of adults sharing a home has probably been around since before the Stone Age.

However, it still seems to bewilder the housing industry and local government, even though there has recently been a dramatic increase in the need for dwellings that will allow families to do this. A survey by the National House

Building Council (NHBC) showed that between 2010 and 2014 demand for this type of home increased by 38%, amounting to about 500,000 individual buildings.

Regardless of why a household is looking to live in a multigenerational environment, most are forced into unsatisfactory arrangements, ultimately resulting in a loss of independence and privacy. While big developers respond slowly to this trend, the best chance these families have of improving their situation is to create their own solution by self-building or adapting an existing property.