to think that unless you spend £££, houses in the UK are not very functional??

[PussinJimmyChoos]

Seriously...what is it with houses in this bloody country (and yes, I am English!)...they are so NOT designed for family life....poxy pokey 3rd bedrooms, kitchens you can't swing a cat in, only one bathroom in most houses and no space for entertaining....

It pisses me off!! Struggling with space in our house atm and just thinking that if a bit more thought went into the design of it, it wouldn't be as much of an issue

And why are so many new builds so small?!!!!

Thanks expat.

I do see your point - mind you (hi to your DS/DD who has dyspraxia!) I am dyspraxic and haven't yet learned which way to turn out of my parents' drive to get to the main road!

I was, I suppose, hoping that they would go from enjoying the tiny patio 'garden' to being old enough to cope with the park. But maybe not. I'm mostly just kidding myself that we'd manage.

I'm angry on your behalf that it's not better for you. I'm down south, or I'd be happy to do park-trip duty.

Thanks, LittleRed :).

We don't know what we can do except move farther out to afford to rent a house with a decent garden.

Hobson's choice there.

But you are wonderful to take the effort on yourself and give your children the good experience.

Yes, LRD, I will! Then I'd be able to afford to buy my own fully-functional house!

Also agree that a closed veranda at front is necessary for pushchairs and muddy shoes. Even just a small one, say, double the width of the door, is sufficient.

Ooh, get me. Pantries and verandas. Doesn't 'veranda' sound like the sort of name Hyacinth Bouquet would give to her daughter to sound upper arse? (D'you get the play on words? Ho ho ho)

Oh now you see I'm v v jealous of my dad's veranda on the side of his house - goes into a boot room, then into the kitchen, so great for coming and going with kids, muddy dogs, shopping etc, leaving the front entrance clean and unsullied for visitors.

Now that is a fully-functional house...

Don't get me started on the state of housing over here (I'm from Canada, now in Jersey). What is up with the lack of heating?? In a place as damp and dank and cold in the winter as this is? When we bought our place (a flat, natch, in a block of flats) there was no heating anywhere in our flat whatsoever! In a building that was built in the 60's! We had to install heating ourselves, while upgrading the wall sockets to modern ones as well. DH used to be a sparky and he was astounded at the ancient nature of the wiring.

So many here seem to be stuck in a 50's timewarp with regards their living conditions, and what astounds me is they don't seem to want to improve it. Just a couple weeks ago in the local paper there was an article about how the States (local council would be the equivalent in UK, I think) was upgrading the heating in some states (like council maybe?) housing, and would you believe the tenants were complaining about it! complaining about getting proper reliable heating...

Oh and the dearth of mixer taps...grr....

I also cannot hack the washing machine in the kitchen either. We have a dinky kitchen and the washing machine robs us of much-needed cupboard space (and space where we could install a proper North American-sized fridge, not like the standard miniature fridges over here).

Can you tell I'm very much looking forward to when we move back to Canada in a few years?

Mixer taps!!! Why on earth would anyone not have mixer taps, heating and double-frigging glazing?!

'So many here seem to be stuck in a 50's timewarp with regards their living conditions, and what astounds me is they don't seem to want to improve it. Just a couple weeks ago in the local paper there was an article about how the States (local council would be the equivalent in UK, I think) was upgrading the heating in some states (like council maybe?) housing, and would you believe the tenants were complaining about it! complaining about getting proper reliable heating...'

I hear the sound of a nail hitting a head reading this!

I'll never in my life understand this mentality, tbh.

We're really lucky with our house, we found a right gem.

It's a 60s semi, was 3 bedroom but was extended every which way by the previous owner so we now have:

Hall with huge coat and shoe cupboard
Large lounge (used to be a lounge-diner)
Dining room open onto the large kitchen, with a combi boiler so no need for water tank
Utility room (no plumbing for washer but power for fridge, freezer etc)
Downstairs shower room
3 double bedrooms on the first floor
Small study (could be used as a dressing room as it leads into bedroom 3)
Huge bathroom (used to be a bedroom)
Loft conversion running the entire width of the house which is now a bedroom
All the bedrooms have large built in double-width wardrobes
Large garden
Driveway that can take 3-5 cars depending on their size and how they're parked.

My house looks pretty naff from the outside (typical 60s appearance - part brick, tile rendering, flat fronted apart from lobby porch) but once you're inside it's like a Tardis. The windows are large so it's really bright and airy and we have so much space, I love it.

Contrast with a new build my friend and her then-partner bought nearby; 125 grand more than we paid for this, downstairs loo and an ensuite as well as family bathroom, with 3 bedrooms, one of which wouldn't fit a bed and a wardrobe in. No storage, they had to keep the ironing board in the downstairs loo.

I suppose it's because it's the way most houses have always been, so no one really thinks to question it.

I'm currently in a one-bed first floor flat with a 3 metre square 'balcony'. It's cold in winter and hot in summer, and on several mini-levels.

I can't wait to move, but my desires run no further than a dinky three-bed terrace.

Of course if I COULD afford a house with a laundry room, pantry, second bathroom etc, I would, but I've never considered the lack of these things as being severely detrimental to my standard of living.

Don't really understand the obsession with multiple toilets either. Two, I understand, so that if two people want to go at once, you don't need to wait. But how likely is it that three people will need to go (and are so desperate they cannot wait) at exactly the same time? I don't personally spend much of my life going to the toilet.

This article is a few years old but sums up what is wrong with British housing www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/aug/13/property.homesandgardens

Last week I went to visit a friend who had just moved into a 6 bed new build with her 2 dc and dh. I was flabergasted at how little space she had. Tiny kitchen with miniscule dining area, really odd long thin rectangular and cramped upstairs sitting room, and the six bedrooms. Well, two of these should not be described as bedrooms as the larger fitted only a normal sized cot and a chair in it. Not even a chest of drawers too. The 'master' bedroom and second bedroom could fit a 4'6" bed in, one chest of drawers and a single wardrobe. The other two bedrooms were ok single sizes I think. But this house had a double garage (although on a housing estate so loads of parking on the street), a large utility room (Why, when the space was so clearly needed in the kitchen/diner for people), most astonishingly, it had 6 loos with 5 bathrooms/shower rooms.

It was one of the strangest houses I have ever been in. And no storage anywhere in the house at all.

I think people are often obsessed with ticking boxes of requirements, numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, without thinking about the way that they could live in the house.

But one thing reading this thread has shown me, is that we don't all want the same things in a house (thank goodness), and I am now slightly more than before in love with my Georgian terraced house, which, although it has quirks, is beautiful and elegant, has room for us all, is sturdily built (don't hear neighbours at all), and has loads of cupboards to store my junk. Even if I have to walk through the house to get to the garden!

Also, just to go on a bit more...

why do people need their houses to be detatched when the next door house is less than a foot away? And new build gardens that are the size of my kitchen table and so overlooked that you couldn't fart without hearing half a dozen neighbours tutting.

Ooh, no Speedy, she would be verandahhh, surely?

I myself, would love a wine cellar. My first boyfriend's parents had one ... they lived in the house that is illustrated in one of the Allan Ahlberg books, and it was very middle class chic!

Btw, DH is Russian and hates our lack of mixer taps ... so it is hardly a first-world luxury!

I grew up on council estates and don't recognise these spacious, beautifully designed paragons of architectual genius that everyone else here seems to be going on about. Tiny rooms, plaster walls, black mould ... Lovely.

One thing that mystifies me is the current trend for 'garden rooms'. A sofa in the back garden - in facking ENGLAND???

Sidge I want your house
whereabouts are you? (N/S/Eor W is fine)

I thought developers had huge land banks (about 15yrs worth) and it was all about maximising profit with a little bit of gov interference) the fact that they are now finding it tough is all about building overpriced shoe boxes noone wants and not 'saving' for a rainy day (just like the previous gov) surely?

Mixer taps!! That's another thing! DH totally bewildered by new houses very often not having them...yes, cheaper for the builders etc but not efficient at all!!

Love the build of houses in Syria - walls so thick you can have the squits without the whole family knowing about it - and near the end of the visit, the food caught up with me and I did...but thankfully, no red faced walk of shame back to the living room afterwards!!

Are showers de rigeur in Syria and Russia, too? They're even in totally skank apartments in a lot of places.

Except here.

I wish I could have helped design my house when it was first built, they have made CRAP use of the space here.

It is only just 4 years old and apparently (not sure if this is true) all new houses have to be built to be accessable to all. So the house (and all the other houses in our Cul de Sac are all wheelchair friendly.

This means the entrance hall is HUGE, really huge, I have amassive bookshelf, shoe cabinet etc in the hall and it still looks barren. I could have the dining table out there it's so big (obviously wouldnt as that would be daft.

The kitchen could be much wider if the hall was narrower, then there'd be room for dining area/table in the kitchen.

I have two large bedrooms and a nice bahroom upstairs (no shower - why?!?). But there is also a downstairs loo - which is MASSIVE with just a little loo and sink in, I had my washing machine and tumble drier in there and a clothes rack it's so big. I really don't see the need for 2 toilets in a 2bed house, it's such a waste of space, there could have been a huge dining room.

Lastly, all the light switches are low and the plug sockets are high. This means they are at the perfect height for toddlers and it's anightmare when friends kids come over as they all notice right away and we get the constant on off of the light switches!

Expat - yup...showers and mini shower hoses for cleaning after the loo are all standard in Syria - although probably not in the poorer areas but have not seen houses there so cannot comment fairly

I think hygiene seems to come down low on house designing in the UK....I mean it wasn't that long ago that baths were off of the kitchen and some loos were outside!

I was talking about this with my Dad yesterday. Generalisation here, but he thinks that Men design houses from the outside in and Women from the inside out. As in, women would consider the size and shape of the rooms with regard to positioning furniture and actually living in the spaces as opposed to looking at the plot size and what could be squeezed in.
Apart from the men/women thing I think he has something.
People who design modern homes need to work from the inside out. Looking at the needs of the home buyer/resident rather than building homes that are generally unsuitable for purpose.
Sod curvy lines on maps, go back to straight lines and make the houses a decent size.
I would make a fantastic house/ estate designer.

Many terraced houses still have a downstairs bathroom only, off the kitchen. When DW and I were looking at terraces, 10 years ago, this was what Phil'n'Kirsty would have called "a deal-breaker."

BIL's house has it. Makes me feel uncomfortable. I hate going downstairs to wash/ clean teeth/ use toilet. I like to be clean before I meet the world in the morning...

expat - in Moscow (where DH comes from), not having a shower would be like not having taps inside.