FIFTY years ago a cooked breakfast was essential, a car was the new family pleasure and only banks worried about security.

But, according to Knight Frank, today breakfast is something you munch on the move, two-car families are the norm and everyone double locks their front doors.

Andrew Harwood, of Knight Frank, said: “Many people look at the way technology has changed our lives, but it is interesting to look at the way our lifestyles have developed.”

Here are some of the significant changes in demand we have made on our homes over the past 50 years:

1950s

Essentials: utilitarian kitchens, good dining room, family bathroom.

Fashionable: garage for the car, Tudor-style details.

1960s

Essentials: fluorescent lighting, fitted Formica work surfaces.

Fashionable: picture windows, double glazing, bungalows, central heating (fireplaces pulled out or boarded up), pebble dashed walls.

1970s

Essentials: 1.5 bathrooms to the family house, shower attachment to the bath, utility room for the washing machine and drier.

Fashionable: breakfast bar and patio, carpets in bathroom, microwave ovens in kitchen, “new” conservatories, double garage.

1980s

Essentials: classic country house or neo-Georgian look, central heating, fitted kitchen.

Fashionable: two bathroom/four bedroom houses with preference for master bedroom and bathroom suite. Bigger eating space in kitchens.

1990s.

Essentials: minimum two bathrooms/four bedroom ratio, big eating area in kitchens.

Fashionable: all bedrooms with own bathrooms, oil-fired Agas and range cookers, good security, computer room or study, stylish eating area in kitchen/family room, outdoor decks, indoor swimming pool/gym.

2000s.

Essentials: lots of bathrooms, eating area in kitchen/family room, good security.

Fashionable attractions: houses that are “old” outside and new inside, underfloor heating, natural flooring of wood and slate, high tec communications/security systems.