Cornwall is the nation’s cottage hotspot where buyers have the best chance of snagging the most quintessentially British property type…
Cottages are perhaps the most quintessentially British property type available to the nation’s homebuyers, but new research by over-50s property specialists, Regency Living, reveals that they are in short supply, accounting for just 4% of England’s current property listings.
Sales & Marketing Director at Regency Living, Tim Simmons:
“For silver downsizers who are looking to move into a smaller, more manageable property, cottages are incredibly desirable. Not only are they a good size for downsizers, but they also boast a huge amount of character and a charming aesthetic due in no small part to their age.
“But the fact that cottages are usually older properties means they often require a significant amount of renovations and upkeep in order to ensure they are comfortable, safe, and accessible. So even if you are able to find one on the market, it’s important to consider how much money and effort you’re willing to put into maintaining it over both the short and long-term.”
Regency Living has analysed current property listings data (Cottage stock level data sourced from Zoopla (correct as of 06/05/25) to pinpoint which English counties are the nation’s cottage hotspots, measuring the number of available cottages against total for sale stock in each county.
The analysis reveals that across England there are currently an estimated 367,425 residential properties on the market. Of these, just 14,830 are cottages. This means the desirable downsizer property type accounts for just 4% of the current market.
However, downsizers in some English counties do stand a better chance of securing a cottage, not least those in Cornwall and Herefordshire. Cornwall is currently England’s cottage hotspot, accounting as they do for 12.6% of the county’s current residential listings.
Herefordshire is close behind with cottages accounting for 12.2% of the market, followed by Rutland at 11.8%. Cottages also account for more than 10% of current listings in Somerset (10.5%) and Gloucestershire (10.3%), followed by Devon (9%), the Isle of Wight (8.9%), Wiltshire (8.4%), Dorset (8.1%), and Cumbria (8%).
However, the availability of cottages in a number of counties falls well below the national average. Nowhere are cottages in shorter supply than Greater London where they account for just 0.7% of all current listings.
This is followed by Merseyside (0.8%), West Midlands County (0.9%), and the City of Bristol (1.2%), while stock levels in Tyne & Wear (1.7%), Greater Manchester (1.7%), and Durham (1.8%) all come in at below 2%.
Sales & Marketing Director at Regency Living, Tim Simmons:
“A bungalow can make the most sense for downsizers, but with both bungalows and cottages in such short supply, you may struggle to find such a property when searching the market. This is one reason that we are seeing a growing number of retirees opting to buy a park home. They make for a charming, comfortable detached home of a manageable size, and are often located in some of the most in-demand downsizer areas of England such as Cornwall and Devon – places where bricks and mortar properties such as cottages often command a hefty price premium.
“The relative affordability of park homes means that downsizers can release a huge chunk of their equity while moving into a ready-made community of like-minded people of a similar age.”
