To think new builds are too small

Urgh. Never newbuild is my mantra: large (overlooked) gardens that need digging up to grow anything, small rooms, odd storage arrangements (no, I don’t want a double garage). That’s before we discuss how ugly and poorly fitted out they are. Shame since newbuilds in other countries are of a lovely quality and are beautifully done.

Yes they are - but we are an island trying to cram 70 million and counting plus a million a year of arrivals somewhere.

Bought a new build 4 bed about 10 years ago. it annoys me that youve to edge around the bottom of the bed as the rooms are small. still the harron home i got had higher ceilings than bellway i could place my hand on the roof in those it was crazy

I got told that they use specially made furniture in show homes that is on a smaller scale to make rooms appear bigger. So there’ll be a sofa with three cushions but it’s really only the size of a normal 2 seater etc. Then when you move in with your normal sized stuff everything’s suddenly very cramped!

Agree re the bathrooms. I understand the requirement for the accessible downstairs loo, and that is nice to have for guests. However, even 2 bedroom houses now have the downstairs loo, a family bathroom and an en-suite for the master bedroom. The en suite really isn’t necessary in a 2 bedroom house - it would be better used as a cupboard or to make the bedrooms a bit bigger. En suites only really make sense for 3 bed and larger.

And if I was buying a two bed flat I’d rather have more living space/storage than an ensuite and a “family bathroom”.

This is why they have IKEA 😂

I think there's a typo. The house is about 15' wide internally, and if one bedroom is 7'1" wide, the other (after a few inches for the wall) is probably about 7'9.

What I can't grasp about new builds is the plethora of bathrooms. If I was buying a 3-bed new build, I'd rather have one bathroom, one good-sized bedroom and 2 decently sized bedrooms than two bathrooms, 1 good sized bedroom, one okay bedroom and 1 cupboard with a window.

The open plan layout can make homes appear bigger than they are, but yes they are tiny. Often with the weirdest layouts, too, and no storage space.

1960's homes on the other hand weren't the prettiest, but they are lovely and light and spacious!

We live in a new build now and did find when trying to choose one that you have to really pay for having any kind of actual space rather than ticky box room’s that are as small as they possibly can be. The cheaper 2/3 bed semi’s there was just no space at all really, nowhere for storage, garden’s were tiny, living room would fit 1 sofa and then not much else, no space in the kitchen for a dining table unless you got a space saver one and put it flush against the wall, the 3rd bedroom tiny, no hallway or porch etc. The more expensive ones though the difference in space is huge, we have plenty but we did have to pay £££ for that, every house should have at least some storage space. Lots of the 3 bed semi showhomes we viewed didn’t have any at all and we both said I don’t even know where you’d keep the hoover!

Yes, I know I want 100 sq m for my next house but a lot of the time that info isn't on the listing. Not very helpful.

I never understood why isn't sqm or sqft more important than number of bedrooms here.

Getting smaller: houses.

Getting bigger: phones, cars, people.

It's really dishonest. The furniture is the floor plan is not the same size as normal furniture I mean they must be toddler beds in bedroom 2 and 3

I agree to an extent. I prefer the old style new builds from the mid 2000s. My friend lives in a lovely one, she has bay windows still, and a large landing, and decent size third bedroom. It is detached though, and away from other houses (not the kind where they'll say detached, but it is sandwiched next to somebody else). She also has a nice garden too.
I grew up in an old house, and it was smaller than my friends house, so it depends. They are building some huge new build houses, you can get lovely ones, but they are a lot more expensive.

I don't agree on the kitchen, because I do alot of cooking and baking. I love a large spacious kitchen, and a table preferably in there as well. I quite like a smaller cosy living room that you can snuggle up in. It is very much personal preference I suppose.

Easily. Single bed is 0.9x1.9m. You could even fit small table or the shallow wardrobe.

Put tape on floor to see. It works quite ok tp show the space use

I live in 1950s housing, one of the bedrooms is the size of a shoe box.
I don't think it's a new build issue.

My ex council house has no space between the front door and stairs but I just leave the buggy in the car boot. Or fold it and put it in the kitchen.

I don't like new build estates, they all look the same

It's such a sweeping generalisation, why are all new builds lumped together when they obviously vary.
Some new builds are small and some aren't. Some old terraces are tiny and some are huge!

I am in a post war council house which is tiny, with gardens big enough to build the house another three times over. I would trade most of my garden for built in storage and a dining room!

I have friends who have new builds, and my house is bigger than some of them, but they don’t have the garden I have.

I would love to see minimum building sizes become a thing, and I would also like so see above toward housing being marketed by the m/2 as well as the number of bedrooms.

This. The UK leasehold system has a lot of answer for.

Ample old-school houses on generous plots have space and privacy, and I have fond memories of growing up in my parents’ large, expansively built house and garden. Rabbit hutches with tiny overlooked gardens that are too small for kids to play in, do not. A family-friendly spacious condo with a big balcony and communal play area downstairs is preferable IMO.

I bet they’ve taken the doors off too,which always gives the illusion of more space.

What a rabbit hutch. The 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are ridiculously small. I doubt you could fit a double bed in B2 and B3 a single would be tight. Prices from £229k.
Reminds me of a joke about Barratt Homes and an STI from a few years ago.

The toilets thing is due to accessibility, to enable a wheelchair user to come to the house and visit. Having to have a downstairs loo that a wheelchair user could use is not an issue with older houses with generous plot sizes, or an elevator apartment building, where one disabled loo can be put on the ground floor only. But when you have the small plot size of a modern newbuild and have to put in not only a downstairs loo but also all the “wheelchair turning spaces” that are required, it creates very odd and cramped ground floor layouts.

Having bigger space requirements would result in fewer homes being built or in more green space having to be released, which is a problem in the UK where there is tremendous resistance to concreting over any meadows. Hard choices either way.

Some countries like the Netherlands and Japan have managed to increase floor space per person (Japan now has more floor space per person than the UK) despite having even denser populations - mainly by building upwards and literally adding more floor space above ground - so, demolishing old two-storey houses and shifting towards three- and even four-storey houses, or just building apartments (which creates lots of extra floor space and also creates more usable space, as you are not wasting space on stairs/landings or on having to have a toilet on every floor). Also, having more public transport/biking and giving up less space to cars. The UK could do the same, but all these choices require trade offs and are hard to do. The British like having multiple cars per household and are quite negative about apartment-living.

A friend of mine recently got a council new build. Her smallest bedroom can fit in a single bed built on top of a stair box and a chest of drawers under the tiny window, that’s it. Nothing else. The next size up can fit a set of shorty bunks and a small wardrobe and a bed side table. The master takes a double, one bedside table and has a tiny built in unit. You have to kind of scotch to get past the radiator. Her living room is so small that when my DH sat on her single 3seat couch with his legs out straight, they touched the tv unit. He’s 5ft11 and the ceilings are very low, he can put his hands flat on the ceiling with flat palms . Hardly any built in storage and her hall way is not even big enough to store a folding buggy. It’s insane how small it is.

on the flip side, I live in a 1890s miners cottage. Two up two down. It’s small, with a tiny lean to kitchen but it’s positively palatial in size with lovely tall ceilings compared to my besties new house. I assume it’s a money saving thing.