IT USED to be so straightforward. When a couple went to look at a house the estate agent could be sure that the husband would make a bee-line for the garages or any other interesting outbuilding which in time could be happily christened 'the den'.

The other side of the family, meanwhile, would have headed straight for the kitchen. First impressions were important; was it large enough and well equipped? If it passed this first test further investigation would reveal if there was a walk-in larder, did the drawers have easy-action rollers, and were the cupboard doors made of real wood or merely a cheap veneer over chipboard?

If the answer was 'yes' to all these questions then both halves of the couple were well on the way to buying and the agent close to dancing all the way back to the office.

Nowadays it’s not so simple, as Edward Church of Strutt & Parker explains.

He said: "If you are showing a married couple round a house, at your peril do you presume that it’s the woman who does the cooking. I would never assume that a man is not interested in the kitchen.

"Think of all the professional cooks you see on television; a lot are men, and nowadays many men like to share the cooking. Men are also much more interested in interior design than they used to be.

"They are often very well informed and have definite opinions. Not a lot of men walk into a room and just go 'very nice' these days. They know what they like, and as importantly, what they don’t ."

Edward, ,who is based at Strutt & Parker’s Canterbury office, added: "Once upon a time most men wanted a sitting room that looked like John Steed’s apartment in The Avengers. Nowadays male taste is broader and more sophisticated."

He believes that some of the most discerning home-buyers are young professional couples, who – unlike previous generations – will actually have discussed their preferences and know exactly what 'feel' they want in a new home.

These days it’s an equal conversation too. Over the 12 years that Edward has been in the estate agency profession he has seen men increasingly contributing to the detail and the acid test – as it were – is the bathroom.

"There was a time when a bathroom was a bathroom was a bathroom, and it was pretty hard to get excited about it. That has changed completely.

"I have known people buy a house almost on the strength of the bathroom alone, and again this is an area where men have really strong and very valid opinions these days.

"They’re not just looking out for a decent-sized shaving mirror either. Men want space and light in a bathroom, and in terms of fittings they want to see spacious shower cubicles with powerful, and preferably multi-nozzle, showers.

"Men tend to more impressed by contemporary, even dramatic design in a bathroom, especially when it comes to smaller details such as taps. The male of the species can get really turned on by a hi-tech tap."