The data showed that 61,054 new homes have been purchased since the start of the pandemic, and while flats remain popular, detached homes accounted for the largest level of market activity.
A total of 21,129 detached new-builds have been bought across England since 31 January 2020, accounting for 35% of all sales, the highest proportion of all property types, according to Warwick Estates.
The data showed that 61,054 new homes have been purchased since the start of the pandemic, and while flats remain popular, detached homes accounted for the largest level of market activity.
Despite the growing EWS1 cladding crisis, flats remained the second most popular choice with 19,225 sales accounting for 31% of market activity.
Semi-detached homes were the third most popular, accounting for 23% of all sales, with terraced new-build homes accounting for just 11% of market activity.
This detached new-build property preference was prevalent across all regions of England but one. In London, new-build flats continued to dominate the market, accounting for 93% of all new-build sales since the start of the pandemic.
Detached homes (1%), Semi-detached (2%) and terraced houses (4%) accounted for just 7% of market activity between them in total.
Bethan Griffiths, chief operating office at Warwick Estates, said: “There’s no denying that our lengthy stint under lockdown restrictions has spurred greater demand for larger homes and this is no different within the new build sector.
"In fact, detached homes have been the driving force within the new-build market in all but one region since the start of the pandemic and this change in homebuyer preference is something housebuilders will need to consider going forward.
"That’s not to say that flats are no longer popular and they account for the second-largest level of transactions.
"Of course, they will always be more prevalent in an area such as London where not only is space limited, but buyers prefer the lifestyle offering that comes with living in a managed development of flats.”
