05.05.2020
Lumon Conducts Research in Four Different European Housing Markets
Nowadays almost all new apartments have a balcony, sometimes even two. The idea is, the people living there should have direct access to outside air. However, often the balconies are unused, or at best used as a storage room. Why? There are a number of reasons. That space becomes an extra cost: the balcony is a windy place, which becomes wet when it rains. It gets dirty when the leaves fall onto the balcony in autumn. Sometimes small animals, like birds, use it as their home. All of this is simply because the balcony is built to be totally open, which allows all this to happen. Therefore, the utilization of balconies is typically very, very low.
Yet for Developers this is a cost item, a mandatory thing that must be built. This is because the customers still demand it, the city planners require it, and the architects like them because balconies allow you to make the building look interesting and have a unique design. The structures in and around the balcony are not simple: the isolations, the structures holding the balcony slabs, pillars that sometimes go underground to the garage which limits the space of parking lots.
Could something be done with the balconies? What do the customers think?
Lumon contracted Taloustutkimus Oy in Finland to conduct research in four very different housing markets: Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. The studies were made in local languages by local professional research companies in each country. The target groups in each country were the potential private buyers of new apartments, with the idea of moving into a new home, not acquiring an apartment just for investment purposes.
Despite the big differences in the countries, the results were surprising in two ways: the main results were very similar with 67 – 85% of people being ready to pay more for having their new home equipped with a frameless glazing protected balcony and 72 – 88% of people believe that such balcony would raise the value of the apartment at least with an extra 5%.
Business Opportunity for Developers: More Money with Frameless Openable Balcony Glazing
The cost of building the frameless moveable [openable] balcony glazing and consequently protecting the balconies is a fraction of the extra investment the end-customers are ready to make for gaining the benefits: almost all year round usable space because there is virtually no snow, water, dirt, trash or leaves, and the balconies are not accessible by small animals such as birds. Instead, the balcony turns out to be a very comfortable sunroom, where the people can still enjoy nature. The results of these studies Lumon has made with our customer’s business cases shows net profits of up to seven-digit values (Euro €), depending on the profile of the housing projects.
Do you want to hear more about the researches and the benefits to you?
Please consult your Lumon expert to build your specific business case with protected balconies.
