AIBU to wonder why new houses are so badly designed?

[StarlingMurmuration]

We're planning to move house soon and I've just spent an enjoyable though frustrating half hour on Rightmove, wondering why on earth modern houses are so poorly designed. We have been renting a small three bed new build terrace, with a WC on the ground floor, and a family bathroom and ensuite on the first floor... I liked my ensuite but at the same time thought it was ridiculous as two of the three bedrooms were significantly smaller than they needed to be to allow the ensuite to fit. But I've just seen a house that takes the biscuit. A four bed, three floor semi with five (FIVE!) toilets/bathrooms. A WC on the ground floor and one on the first floor, a family bathroom and two ensuites. Meanwhile the master bedroom and the second bedroom with ensuites are both tiny (9'5" x 8'11"), and the other bedrooms are even smaller. Why in earth do developers think people want so many bathrooms at the expense of actual room space? AIBU to find this infuriating, or does everyone else actually ant five toilets in a four bedroom house?

And spend less time in the bathroom,and more time outdoors.

But I like all of my stuff.

That,

No thanks, the outdoors stinks of shit and is boring as hell. Prefer nice long soaks in scented bubbles

Actually one of the reasons I love all our bathrooms is that my lot spend loads of time outdoors; running, cycling, riding and kicking a ball round a muddy field. Many, many showers are taken.

I also love my utility room for similar reasons.

I think it's lovely. It is bright and fresh and gives off a good vibe. I would love to live there. In the Middle East we always have a zillion bathrooms, I think it's to do with male and female visitors and having your mum living with you

Starling - I think you might be literally three houses down from me!

I tried replying to your pm but the app crashed on my phone... I'm out tonight but will send a reply tomorrow when I'm home .

Yanbu. We rented a two bed flat with two toilets. No storage. Also i dont like an open plan kitchen dinner. We eat fish alot, who wants to smell that later in the evening. We reject any flat, house with open plan now. Suspect alotof people who design these flats never live in them. Abit like hotel rooms.

Tinkly - without storage I'd have to look at my Hoover, recycling, ironing board, suitcases, sewing machine, mop & bucket etc all the time - it's not storing crap that I can't be bothered to get rid of but essential things that I just don't want to look at all the time.

Agree 100% about not wanting to smell cooking smells all night, rach! At the moment we have a conservatory/dining room and kitchen on the ground floor and the living room is on the first floor, and I really like that. This house has an integral garage that has been converted into a massive store room and it's brilliant. One good thing about renting is that it allows you to see what you really what when you buy somewhere.

Layde, how funny! I bet there are several other mumsnetters on the estate too. :)

It's not an 'obsession' with storage, it's a practical and sensible wish for a couple of decent sized cupboards in which to store all the necessary household stuff as listed by wonky.

Our builder had been working on some new builds for a developer - 3 storeys, 5 beds, very small plots...

There were 3 of them, priced at silly money, but you can get away with silly money in our town centre to be honest - for a good property.

They didn't shift and the price came right down.

Builder said feedback had criticised the tiny garden for what's definitely a family home. One of the bathrooms was massive (to the detriment of the bedrooms on that floor) and the loo was oddly sat at the end of the walk-in shower, while the standalone bath stuck into the room at a slight angle and made me wonder how you'd clean behind it.

Mainly though, it was clear that viewers felt the houses were unbalanced and top heavy, with very little living space for homes which might have 6 or more people, with differing needs, living in them. Downstairs was open plan with massive bi-folds, leaving very little wall or choice for planning furniture arrangement. The sockets for the TV were assuming a massive wall-mounted thing, further restricting choice. No utility (which you would expect in a house of this spec). Basically one massive reception room. It just wouldn't work for a family.

Such a waste of the space really - great shame.

Those of you saying the house is beautiful, do you mean the one I first posted, or the second one?

I think people should start posting links to new build houses they like and dislike houseporn. I love floor plans.

Yes but really, how much storage do you need? I means my Hoover and ironing board go under the stairs, my recycling goes in a small space in the utility. We have a couple of runs of fitted cupboards and get everything in those quite easily.

And yes we are a busy family of six with lots of interest and activities and all the associated paraphernalia. But some people are talking about filling a spare room with stuff.

The things we struggled for in a new build were things like seasonal clothing (winter coats and hats and gloves v sunhats and shorts) and outgrown clothing waiting to be handed down. Where do suitcases live? Christmas decorations? Christmas presents? One accumulates a degree of stuff that isn't used much but is bulky and can't be left lying around.

For the record DH is from a family of 6 and grew up in a house with one bathroom. No one died.

Yes but coats just go under the stairs. A couple of woolly hats and gloves each doesn't take too much room. I've also become far more ruthless with hand me downs since realising that, actually, a lot of stuff doesn't really get reworn. Christmas decorations take up one cardboard box in a cupboard, (we have a real tree). Suitcases mostly nest and are in our eaves storage, (we don't have a loft). They could go under our bed though, or on top of the wardrobe; both are empty.

People do have too much stuff though: my nine year old has one large chest of drawers and a line of hooks for all his clothes and he is very well dressed. My friend's nine year old has a massive overflowing wardrobe and she is always buying more charity shop bargains and her boy is pretty scruffy. Again, DH and I share a wardrobe and I have a chest of drawers, he has the drawers under the wardrobe. I have plenty of nice appropriate clothes for all ocasions, as does DH.

Pipbin, depending on how old your DH is, there probably wasn't the expectation of everyone having a shower every day though.

Well yes that's like our house but the new builds described here wouldn't have a cupboard under the stairs or eaves storage so it'd be under the bed or on top of the wardrobe, and that's if you can even fit a wardrobe into the so-called bedroom.

And I have three children the same sex so nearly everything is re worn. There's clothes that were second- or third-hand to my pfb that DC2 and DC3 have worn and which have now been passed on and passed on again. If we're talking about accumulation of stuff then surely it's better for the planet to store a bag of clothes for a year at a time than go shopping continually?

I guess DH grew up in the 'Sunday night is bath night' era.

As Mrs Hathaway says many new builds don't have a cupboard under the stairs and nowhere to store the vacuum cleaner and ironing board.

I have them in the cupboard under the stairs and shoes live the second cupboard under the stairs! Suitcases and stuff like that go in the loft.

I think it is rather unfair to blame the lack of storage in new builds on people having too much stuff.

Well I agree, i wouldn't buy a teeny newbuild now because there are six of us, (we have a big newbuild). We did have a really teeny newbuild when there was me and DH and two babies though. We moved from a large Victorian terrace and found that the space worked much better for us. We also boarded our loft and put in a light and a decent loft ladder.

The house the OP links to is particularly badly designed though. Our newbuilds have been okay for us.

I also grew up in a family of 6 with one bathroom, and no, there was no expectation of a daily shower - just as well, because we didn't have one! But we staggered our bath times (usually 2-3 times a week) so we bathed throughout the evening, rather than having a "you are hogging the bathroom" fight of a morning. And a quick wash at the sink the other days worked fine.

(Am 53, eldest sib 55, youngest 48)

The house was built in 1971, with four spacious bedrooms, ample cupboard space and decent sized gardens. We were the first people to live there, and my mum still does.

I fell like an anomily because we have a 4-bed new build semi (just over 2 years old) and we love it. We have two fairly large cupboards downstairs, one under the stairs and one in the hallway which houses coats, shoes, iron and iron board and vacuum cleaner plus some other bits. All 4 beds are doubles, we have an ensuite and a main bathroom plus a downstairs loo. The layout is perfect for us as its over two rather than 3 three floors and because we have a large kitchen diner, we are able to use the dining room as a play room for the kids. We saw many examples of poor design when we were hunting, like 5 bed townhouses like the ones above and detached 4 beds that were much smaller than our semi. Equally, we came across plenty of brilliant ones, albeit at a bit of premium cost-wise. Just keep looking to you find what works for you, that's what we did.

Each to their own but I love having an adult bathroom and kids bathroom so to speak but then again we have a decent sized master so don't feel space was compromised for the ensuite. If we move, would want a house with guest ensuite too.