A growing number of people would like a smaller house for a lower price, a survey conducted by property developers Bouwfonds discovered.

‘The demand for smaller homes comes partly from the greying population and from the growing number of one person households,’ researcher Han Joosten told broadcaster Nos.

The financial crisis means people want to see lower prices for houses and apartments. The preferred price for a house dropped nearly €50,000 over the past two years to €273,000. For an apartment the drop was €60,000 to €203,500.

The demand for smaller houses is particularly strong in the central Dutch urban belt of the Randstad and in the regions of Den Bosch and Eindhoven.