Developer: How to Make More Money with Balconies?

23 April 2020

Lumon Researches in Four Different European Housing Markets

Nowadays almost always the new apartments in blocks of flats have a balcony, sometimes even two. The idea is, that the people living there would have a direct access to outside air. However, often the balconies are almost unused, or at best as a storage room. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons, why that space is just almost like an extra cost: the balcony is a windy place, which becomes wet when it rains. It gets dirty when the leaves are falling onto the balcony in the autumn time. Sometimes small animals, like birds are using it as their home. All this is simply because the balcony is typically built to be totally open, which allows all this to happen. Therefore, the utilization of balconies is typically very, very low. 

Yet, for the Developers this is a cost item, a mandatory thing that must be built, because the customers still demand it, the city plan requires it and the architects like them, because it is the balconies, which allow you to make the building or an area look interesting and with unique design. The structures in and around the balcony are not simple: the isolations, the structures holding the balcony slabs, pillars that sometimes go even underground down to the garage even limiting the space of parking lots.

Could something be done with the balconies? What do the End-Customers think about balconies?

Lumon contracted Taloustutkimus Oy in Finland to make researches 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 a flat just for an investment.
Despite of 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 money 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 Glazings

The cost of building the frameless openable balcony glazings and this way 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 nice space, because there is virtually no snow, no water, no dirt, trash nor leaves and the balconies are not accessible by small animals like birds. Instead, the balcony is this way turned to be a very comfortable tea-room, where the people can enjoy the nature.  Based on the results of these studies Lumon has made with our customers business cases, which show net profits up to seven digit Euro values, 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.