Stevenage's private rental market has changed considerably over the last five years. In 2021, the average monthly rent in Stevenage was £1,029. So far in 2026, that figure stands at £1,377. That is a rise of 33.8%. To put that into context, the average UK rent increased from £1,390 in 2021 to £1,744 in 2026, a rise of 25.5%.

For some homebuyers, the kitchen is the deal maker. For others, it is the number of bedrooms, the school catchment or the distance to the railway station. Yet for a sizeable group of buyers, the garden matters just as much as the house itself. Across Bicester and its surrounding villages, there are 654 homes with large gardens.

There is a quiet unspoken problem sitting inside the Bicester property market.

For much of the last two decades, bungalows have quietly slipped out of fashion. Overshadowed by those glossy new build developments, three storey townhouses and open plan ‘modern living’, they became seen by many as somewhere only your granny lives rather than an aspirational home move.