Why is housing in the U.K. so shit?

https://hyphenonline.com/2024/09/09/we-feel-suffocated-hot-housing-social-uninhabitable-in-heat-summer/

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/other/my-new-build-flat-is-unbearably-hot-i-can-t-work-cook-or-sleep-in-it/ar-AA1HXq9l

SOME new builds are awful.... not all are.

SOME older houses are awful...... not all are.

New builds are awful, doesn't mean all uk housing is.

The cost of land, and the developer's profit.

They cram as many houses as they can onto a small patch of land, and provide the bare legal minimum in terms of accommodation.

There is a new build 4 bed house in our village that hasn't sold. The 'master bedroom' is 11'1" by 11'6". It has a sloping ceiling and a dormer window along one side which makes it smaller. The next two bedrooms are smaller still and the 4th is so tiny, it will only fit a cot. But they have three loos, because of course that's really important.

It's why I buy old houses and do them up. It doesn't cost any more but my house is 2,400 sq ft rather than 1,500. My bedroom is 20' x 12'. Bedroom 2 is 15' x 12', Bedroom 3 is 14' x 12'. The smallest which we've furnished as a single, is 10' x 9'.
We have kitchen, dining room and sitting room all large enough to accommodate a family with room to spare. An airing cupboard, wardrobes, a utility room, an office. Cupboard under the stairs. It doesn't judder if someone slams a door. All the walls are brick.

My house may be old but it is comfortable, solid and spacious for me and my six foot + teen ds and his huge friends.

Still muggy and close inside my flat despite todays rain and thunder.

Then you get moaned at by the HA when they want to do works and there is nowhere to move stuff to.

I absolutely agree! I look at some of the beautiful buildings in London and around the world and think what kind of legacy are we leaving for our future generations when you look around and see all these boxes with no character and no storage and no thought. It’s all about speed and finance these days. It’s just so sad.

We can't keep blaming someone who hasn't been in power for over 30 years! She may have started the rot, but there's been a succession of governments since who've not even begun the scratch the surface of what is actually needed re the ever worsening housing crisis.

Yep, ended by Thatcher.

Where do you think we will get our and animal feed from if we build over field, Uk is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe

@EdithStourton the flat I live in is fairly spacious but I'd happily have one less bathroom (a second toilet would gave sufficed) to have a larger bedroom or kitchen. Very arse about face building. Mind you, it is a seafront flat, so probably was built for investment or holiday living and not to actually live in.

Anyone else disappointed in housing policies in manifestos? None of them tackle the issue of the wrong accommodation type being built and that the only way to fix housing is for prices to come more in line with wages. So more regulation with valuations/estate agents is needed as they habitually over value, and more with what is actually being built and the quality of it. Valuation by square footage sounds great. I'm sure there is downsides to this, but we have a screwed generation and need to think of them.

I saw the inside of a new flat recently. Moderately sized storage cupboard. Tiny kitchen area and a living area with barely space for a sofa and a table. Two small but adequate double bedrooms.

And TWO bathrooms.
Absolute peak en-suite insanity.

I'm in a 3 bed 1930s house. 2 big double bedrooms and a tiny single. Not great layout for 2 kids. I like the prettiness and big gardens though. We can walk to town, station, school etc.
My DB recently bought a newbuild it has a double bedroom and 2 good sized singles, much better Layout. But the estate is bland and the gardens tiny. It's also a car journey to get to anything.

I’m so jealous that you live in Barbican. I’ve always loved it from photos and recently had the chance to visit. So full of character, a truly great bit of modern architecture.

I live in Barbican, and yes, it's wonderfully designed, spacious and built to last. Concrete can be a wonderful thing. Would City of London build such an estate now? Of course not. Too costly to maintain, too much unused space which given the Estate's listed status, means it will remain used, thankfully. When the architects were building the estate, they lived on site so they could get a better feel for things and change/add things as needed. Every single flat has access to a storage unit away from their residence, usually in their building's basement or car park. All flats have ample storage too - the wardrobes are especially great.

There are many other concrete estates in London that are just as well thought out - Golden Lane, Rowley Way/Alexandra & Ainsworth, Trellick Tower, Dawson's Heights, and Whittington Estate to name just a few. However, developers and councils are no longer interested in building with such thought a care.

‘Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same…’
Who else remembers the song?

I can see why people would go for a new build for that reason, but I like quirky. As long as it’s not too small.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER I believe that is the policy- which is my most immigrants/expats are in rentals unless they have a Danish partner or have been there a very long time. I think they also have a policy that they get allocated a social housing flat as an adult - it used to be in your mid 20s but I think is a longer wait now- especially in Copenhagen - a lady told me she had one at30 - but it's yours to do whatever with so long as rent is paid.

Basements are at risk of flooding as well. Personally they give me the creeps. My DB’shouse has a cellar. I was dog sitting for them once and they keep the dry dog food in the cellar. I had to go and refill the airtight box they keep it in upstairs and the dog wouldn’t come down with me, just stood at the top watching.

Everything mentioned plus a lack of skilled, experienced contractors who take pride in doing a good job. I’m rent a new build flat. As well as zero storage, weird layout, no airflow (windows on one side of flat only), poor insulation, cheap, useless heaters - it’s also been fitted out to a standard, that if it were my own home, I’d not know where to start to try get all the problems and crappy work sorted out. I’ve not come across anything as badly conceived and executed in flats in Europe and Scandinavia. A lot are simple but well built, thoughtfully designed, have storage including communal basements and are really well insulated.

Yeah, I think the Victorian and Georgian houses can be quite nice, if done well, though that is not common anymore, but anything built between those and now just do not appeal. It is all down to preference though, I will always take modern minimalist over "character" BC "character" is usually just too busy, non functional and reminds me of a hobbit house.

One thing I learned about Denmark recently - told to dh by a Dane at one of his professional gatherings - foreigners are not allowed to buy property unless they’ve lived there - full time - for 5 years.

This (he added) is because if they were allowed, what with Germany being so close, and especially given their extensive coastline, Germans would have bought up much of Denmark already.

But they couldn’t say ‘no Germans’ so it’s a blanket ‘no foreigners’.

Which is doubtless one reason why housing in Denmark is not ridiculously unaffordable.

I just wish the U.K. had the same policy!

I actually prefer the look of most older houses. They have character. Newer houses look like a row of monopoly houses where there is absolutely no difference between them. I suppose it all amounts to personal preference.

When we lived in Copenhagen they were building a really nice block of 5 flats at end of our street- they dug foundations then left about 5 months and overall it took about 16 months - lovely quality with balconies and parking and landscaped- in very nice established area with lots of trees and detached houses - and they were it turns out 'social housing' and were 115 metres square 2 and 3 bedders. here they would have had them up and sold within 8 months max and about 75sqm max- that's the difference