Spring Property Survey: The future looks not so much bright as familiar: The house of the future can take a family right through its life. David Lawson examines the details of a show village

CREATING a home for the 21st century is not quite the leap forward it might seem. Builders have been doing it for half a century, because much of the property that has gone up since the war is likely to be still around in the year 2094.

But they are thinking only of today. Set the task of peering into the future, you might expect something a little more spectacular. But think again.

The flagship for a village named Futureworld in Milton Keynes, expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors when it opens this summer, would blend easily into a stick-in-the-mud suburban estate.

Peter Mapson, an architect turned builder, cannot be blamed for looking backwards, however, as he was given very specific instructions by his co-sponsors, the National House Building Council and Northern Rock Building Society.

'We required a traditional, masonry-built detached house for a family of the 21st century, typified by a working couple with two children under 12 and a baby,' said Ian David of the NHBC.

One crucial factor was the house's 'saleability' - and as every builder knows, buyers don't go for newfangled looks.

But like a wise mother hiding the greens in a child's favourite dinner, Mapson Homes has tucked away the future under this familiar skin. Unlike today's inflexible and narrow-minded property, this house of the future can take a family right through its life. The entrance is ramped and all doors are wide enough for pushchair - and wheelchair - access.

It has secure perimeters as well as the inevitable strong doors and windows - following the recently discovered fact that burglars are more effectively kept away by watching human eyes than high-tech alarms and titanium locks.

Buyers are also about to realise the benefit of its built-in energy efficiency as VAT begins to inflate the nation's fuel bills. In the past, house buyers have generally refused to pay more for better insulation, low-energy lighting and air-tight joints - all of which are considered standard for the 21st century.

The house also has facilities for collecting rainwater and recycling waste, countering the next shock waiting in store for home owners when water and sewerage charges soar to pay for cleaning up and rebuilding Britain's 19th century system.

The other 24 homes making up the village will reflect a more eclectic mix. They include steel and timber frames, a factory-produced house assembled on site from modules ready-fitted with plumbing and electrics, and a roundhouse with its own composting toilets.

Futureworld runs from 6 June to 10 July in Milton Keynes