Italians and home: how views on home choice changed after covid

With the pandemic and lockdowns, Italians have learned to look at their home with different eyes. Remote work, green space, sustainability and technology. These characteristics entered the life of Italians and will remain among the priorities in understanding the house for a long time to come. More and more Italians intend to move into their home within the next 4 years. If in 2019, in pre-pandemic times, the percentage reached 22%, then in 2021 it reaches 26%, which is equal to an increase of 2 million people. Lockdown is a factor that spurred this desire: 53% of those who intend to move into a home in the next four years.

What conditions determine the choice of a house

House with open spaces and green areas

The pandemic has reoriented the criteria to consider when looking for a new home. Forced to live at home for months, Italians now demand mostly open spaces and green spaces where they can live in contact with nature. Thus, the house is "must-haves": gardens and terraces (67%, + 9% compared to 2019) and the presence of greenery within walking distance (65%, with an increase of 17% compared to 2019). The inability to meet with relatives and friends with the same frequency as before, this reason has increased the value of human relations: having a good neighbor today is a very important criterion for almost 3 out of 5 Italians who intend to buy a new home.

As well as proximity to the workplace (in 2021, this is very important for 45% of respondents). Although they are less of a priority than in the previous two years, proximity to public transport (55%) and the availability of a garage or parking space (65%) are still very important for Italians looking for a home.

Green and sustainable home

Sustainability and health are now two very much in demand: almost all Italians consider these concepts important because they are connected to their home, and the pandemic they just experienced has made health a priority. The first place was taken by the attitude to environmental issues: currently 2 out of 5 Italians are considering buying vehicles with electric or hybrid power, such as cars, scooters, bicycles. This data is part of the broader context of an energy transition for home and mobility, increasingly focused on electricity and minimal environmental impact.

Local energy communities

Italians are still poorly aware of what the local energy community is: only 4% know the meaning of this expression. But in practice, what is it? The local energy community is an association between producers and consumers, where some users satisfy part of their energy needs through self-production - for example, using solar panels - and resell the energy to a supplier who redistributes it to the community. Although there is still a long way to go for this innovative model to be known to the general public, thanks to public awareness, many are already inclined to join the energy community 64% of the time.

Remote work, separation between home and business

After a year in which Italians have reclaimed their home spaces to reconcile work life with everyday life at home, the promising progress of the vaccination campaign presents the prospect of returning to the office and working at full capacity after the summer. But what do Italians who have experienced remote work think? It turns out that 78% of respondents say they are ready to work both at home and in the company, 42% want to work mainly in a company, and 36%, who, on the contrary, would prefer to do it from home. Although the preferred format is general alternation between home and business, almost 8 out of 10 workers believe that working from home is a great opportunity. Thus, your home has a new function that is doomed to remain even when the covid-19 crisis is finally overcome.

We will return to this topic later.