C/M/308. The Impact of Consumer Behaviour on House Building

This paper investigates the impact of consumer behaviour on the design of housing in the United Kingdom and the development of homogenous westernised designs of housing across different cultures due to increased mobility, technology and affluence of developing countries. There have been many changes to consumer lifestyles, modes of behaviour and demographic trends that have seen the development of choice in new house builds. However, other variables such as attitude to new housing have created a resistance to new housing developments, which combined with some lack of quality and customer focus in the construction sector has lessened this influence. The study found that other macro factors such as political pressures, the economy, technological and environmental concerns will also impact on the design of new housing. It is important for housing developers to gain a much better understanding of consumers’ needs.