It used to be so straight forward; so clear cut. 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 might be suitable for a home workshop, for the setting up of the biggest model railway layout in the county, or turning into something which could be mysteriously christened ‘the den’. If there was a snooker room, all the better. The male half of the team would be happy as can be and his nod on a rapid sale was all but guaranteed.

The distaff side of the family, meanwhile, would have headed straight for the kitchen. First impressions were important; was it large enough and well equipped? Was there an Aga? 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 now well on the way to proceeding with the purchase and the agent was close to dancing all the way back to the office.

Nowadays it’s not so simple, as George Burnand of property specialists Strutt & Parker explains, ‘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’, says George Burnand, who is based at Strutt & Parker’s Davies Steet office; ‘They are often very well informed and have definite opinions. Not a lot of men walk into a room and just go ‘Hmmm, very nice’ these days. They know what they like, and as importantly, what they don’t like.

‘Once upon a time most men wanted a sitting room that looked like John Steed’s apartment in The Avengers. They were happiest with hard leather chairs, a military-style desk and prints of antiquarian maps on the walls. Nowadays male taste is much broader and more sophisticated. That may in part be due to the influence of television make-over shows, but more than that I’d say it was just men having a greater awareness of their surroundings and being relaxed about getting more involved’.

George says that the some of the most discerning home-buyers are young professional couples, who – unlike previous generations – will actually have discussed their preferences at great length, and will know exactly what ‘feel’ they want in their new home.

These days it’s an equal conversation too. Over the past eight years that George has been with Strutt & Parker he/she has seen men increasingly contributing to the detail and not just nodding at his partner’s opinions!

The acid test – as it were - is the bathroom. As George adds, ‘There was a time when a bathroom was a bathroom was a bathroom, and it was pretty hard to get excited about it. That was 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. They want large baths, preferably in interesting shapes. 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 high-tech tap!’

All of which means that the old sexist rules have to be thrown out of the window. An estate agent – or a home-owner showing prospective purchasers round their home – can’t take anything for granted any more. Address all your comments to the woman when you’re pointing out the granite work surfaces in the kitchen, the fully-fitted bedroom cupboards and the Edwardian bath tub and you might just have walk-out on your hands – by the man!