People who design houses should have to live in them!

[SweetMoon]

Went to view a new build yesterday on a new development. Nice looking house but there was a major WTF moment with its design.

It was a town house over 3 floors and had 4 bedrooms. 3 Bedrooms were ensuite. Bedroom 4 was the smallest bedroom and then right next to it a massive family bathroom. But the other bedrooms all had decent size ensuites, including 2 with baths so basically the only bedroom using the massive bathroom would be the small bedroom 4.

Why not just make that en suite aswell? Or better yet, use bedroom 3's big ensuite as the family bathroom (it could be accessed from the landing if a door put in) and have the massive bathroom as another bedroom or a study?

Or am I missing something? There was a seperate toilet on the ground floor for guests, so bathroom wouldn't even be used by a visitor.

Although quite a big house there was also nowhere to store your hoover or a broom or anything as no tall cupboard or even a space where they can stand. That was a little odd. The downstairs loo was huge, so again could easily have been half the size and then a lovely cupboard could have been next to it there.

AIBU to think people that design these new houses should be made to live in them for a month afterwards so they can realise all the little things that are just odd!

I wouldn't have chosen a new build but we could only afford shared ownership which is pretty much all new builds. However the one we live in is actually well designed and fantastic for storage. It does have a smaller footprint than the full price houses but that just means not having room for a table in the kitchen, plus the 3rd bedroom is the attic - but it's massive with big cupboards and I am looking forward to moving up there at some point!

It's got some lovely design features and seems to be decently built. I know there's a lot of time ahead but we looked at a lot of new builds and this one seems in a different league.

Our neighbours had a baby a few months ago and we've still never heard a peep from them!

We got really lucky with our new build (still waiting to move into it, mind!). It’s on a very specifically designed development (won’t say too much because it will out me) and not designed by your usual new build developers (for a specific reason). It’s a semi, with the kitchen and bathroom on the inside, and the living room and main bedrooms on the outside (thank goodness). Stairs in the middle. Large hall and landing with an alcove upstairs under the front middle window to put a sofa or similar and create a little nook. No ensuites, just a family sized bathroom and the downstairs loo. Two big bedrooms (king size plus furniture) and the third would fit a double plus. Adequate storage. Rather large back garden. Parking space round the back. Plenty of green spaces around the development. And high ceilings and big windows so loads of natural light.

We did see some other new builds in different developments (standard developers) and the footprint for even the four and five bedrooms plus all the ensuites was significantly less than ours. We were amazed at how small the rooms were and how many bathrooms. It’s just the two of us (no kids) as well so the house we managed to snag is perfect.

There are a lot of very ugly houses in the UK. New builds are usually ugly, small, low-quality and badly designed. I think the last house builders to really have a clue were the Victorians. My ideal house would have large rooms, high ceilings, 5 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.

Completely agree with so many of you. We live in a new build townhouse - albeit it’s 10 years old - and some of the things are just so obviously stupid you can’t even imagine. We don’t have all ensuites (2 share the family bath) but close sonit works on that front. My drama is really about the living vs bedroom space. Way too much space for bedrooms up and not enough space downstairs- plus a stupid kitchen layout and stupidly placed radiators. Almost everyone I know on the estate have had to have work done to fix the Their own version of stupidity (as unbelievably it varies even on the same floor plan). Ours is less bad than some (worst I have heard is having the hot water tank in the master closet blocking half of the wall space!!!) but it still has it’s serious annoyances (that we are slowly sorting out!)! YANBU!!

#bowerbird5, your house sounds perfect, but you have 2 reception rooms, this house across the road is being marketed as a family house, yet downstairs has a kitchen diner, sitting room and loo, with 5 small bedrooms upstairs. The people it is marketed to are families, and my contention is that, for 600k you would expect perhaps either a study or playroom, or at least somewhere for your toddlers or teens to have their own space. Oh, and there is minimal storage too. I just think current build designs are bonkers. This new house is well over the average price for our road, and is 4 times the purchase price of our house 16 years ago. This is not an expensive area compared to other parts of the country, and I for one wouldn't pay that, when you can buy a 70s or 80s house around here for half that, and then extend it into the generous plot that many of them have.

My friend moved into a 4 bed brand new townhouse last year. It's beautifully decorated - yet I have far more space and storage facilities in my small two up two down Victorian Terrace as I have a cellar and an attic. She has 3 bathrooms, a downstairs loo and no cupboard big enough to put the hoover in. No possibility of a cellar or an attic (top floor goes into the roof space) to store stuff like Christmas decorations or boxes of stuff in. The walls are paper thin so you can hear people peeing and snoring everywhere - including the next door neighbours.

I'll stick with my terrace, thanks!

I'm in agreement with everyone else- would hate multiple en suites, prefer bigger rooms/more storage. Interesting though isn't it. I would have said that mumsnet users are the exact demographic housebuilders aim for. And putting in a bathroom is more expensive (plumbing and fitting out) than a bigger room or cupboard. So there must be a huge demand for them- but by who??

Agreed.

We looked at a 3 bed new build house with 4 toilets. 4! A downstairs cloakroom, family bathroom and two en suites. I just thought 4 was crazy. Two en suites with a big bathroom was so wasteful of space, why does everyone need their own toilet or washing facility ffs.

Now I’ve just gone on Rightmove to look at new builds but all the ones in my area were 5 beds with 2 en suite and a family bathroom with adequate storage.

I must be in the minority with my new build. 4 bed detached, only master is en suite, all bedrooms are good sized doubles, master even fits a king size with a world of room to spare and 2 of the rooms have decent walk in wardrobes (not massive but definitely adequate). Downstairs we have a large kitchen, dining living area open plan and then a separate small sitting room. Plot is massive. My only complaint is utility room and downstairs bathroom size.

I have seen a lot of other 4 bed detached new builds that are not as generous size wise and also with odd layouts in my area, I put it down to the fact my house is in the county and the others are in town so are bit more pushed for space

Massive is a relative term though. One of my friends who bought a 5 bed new build was waxing lyrical about how huge her three storey house is.....then she came to mine for a coffee morning. Never heard a peep since.

snowy1982
It does sound lovely, but you have to admit that it's still a "new built" size. A 4 bed house should have 4 bedrooms big enough for king size bed, side tables, wardrobes, a desk. You don't need to have the wardrobes in there, but there should be enough space for them. What we think now as a "big" room should be standard, not the exception.
In a 4 bed, you should also have a big sitting room to match the number of bedrooms.

I am not trying to say there's anything wrong with your house, having a brand new home with everything modern and pristine in it is lovely, just a comment about the general UK property market. UK houses are tiny.

Ha. Ha. My Dad designed and built an open plan house in the 1960's. Let's say several doors were put in over the years to eliminate drafts as it was freezing in the Winter so it ended up not very open plan at all! In fairness to him he did it on a very tight budget so could not use the building materials it really needed. Was still a lovely house though.

Terminology always makes me chuckle

"family bathroom" or was we used to know it when I was little "bathroom"

"development" or was we used to know it when I was little "new housing estate"

"Townhouse" or was we used to know it when I was little "terraced house" - or currently in London/SE "charming artisan's cottage"

A 4 bed house should have 4 bedrooms big enough for king size bed, side tables, wardrobes, a desk

I don't think this has ever been the case, not in the UK.

King size beds are not normal.

The "last" bedroom is always smaller than the rest.

Unless there's plenty of space anyway - hardly common in newbuilds unless they're very large and expensive - I don't understand this multi-bathroom thing. In a normally sized 4 bed house I should have thought an ensuite plus a family bathroom and downstairs loo, is enough. It's what we've had for years, and it's always been fine even with guests staying as well as family.
A extra bathroom would have reduced bedroom space a lot. And apart from anything else, who wants to have to clean 3+ bathrooms?

I don't get the whole en suite thing at the expense of living space. How many toilets does a family need?

There seems to be a trend of one lav per bedroom, even if they're not en suite. My mate has a 3-bed house with a bathroom, a shower room and a WC. I'd piss myself while I was deciding which one to use!

And how about that habit some developers have of leaving bedrooms doors off to make the rooms look larger?

I've visited show houses where they've put 4' wide beds in the bedrooms, with specially small pillows on to trick potential buyers into thinking it's a standard 4'6" double.

I always wonder how many people buy them without noticing and then find they can't get their bed AND bedside cabinets in.

The new build house threads always bring out the smug "I will always buy a period property" folk.

We had a sizeable budget but a period property wasn't still available for us. Sometimes there's just not any available for any number of reasons, depending on where you want to live etc. We're now on our second new build house, five bedrooms, two en-suites, family bathroom, loft, utility, study and a large garden. A large garage that fits two cars easily. All the local victorian houses are far smaller. If they are the same size or bigger then they are 1m+.

We also preferred a new build over an old property as it's a blank canvas rather than having to have to live with someones ugly wallpaper and 30+ old kitchen.

I agree that the designs on new builds can be bonkers though, ours is fairly sensible but we did re-site some of the radiators so we can place a coat & shoe rack in the hallway and a side table in the dining room.

We've bought both of our new builds off plan and there was very little changes that we were allowed to do. Yes you can choose your kitchen and bathroom cabinets, tiles, flooring etc but they won't allow you to change anything structural (not even the radiators). Just thought to mention as it's been said here that buy off plan and you get to do this and that. It depends on the builder if you can.

*Terminology always makes me chuckle

"family bathroom" or was we used to know it when I was little "bathroom"

"development" or was we used to know it when I was little "new housing estate"

"Townhouse" or was we used to know it when I was little "terraced house" - or currently in London/SE "charming artisan's cottage"*

We play this game too!

"executive development" - housing estate of detached houses

"open plan staircase" - if we boxed it in, the living room would look even smaller

"entertaining space" - big kitchen

"easily maintained garden" - just a patio

"off street parking" - no front garden

And my favourite:

"sea glimpse" - on a clear day, you can see a tiny sliver of the English Channel if you stand on the window ledge and peer through the fanlight window at just the right angle so you can see between number 26 and number 28

We live in a 'period town house' shabby victorian terrace.

As my DH always says, it's a housing development property - just 140 years old. It's in a street with dozens of almost identical properties, built to the same specifications. Which is very like the housing developments of today.

My sister lives in Germany, in a new build and she has one bathroom and a downstairs loo.
The bathroom is quite big, double sink, loo, large bathtub and a separate shower.
Large living room down stairs, equally large kitchen/diner, three double bedrooms on the first floor. They also have a large attic/study/playroom which could be converted into a fourth bedroom if they wanted to.
They don't have a basement, but have plenty of storage inside the house and in a room behind their carport.
But the one thing I like the most about her house and the "estate" she lives in: All houses look different, unless they are semis

If you have to have a massive downstairs cloakroom to enable wheelchair access why not incorporate it into the tiny/non existent utility room.

Agree about where radiators are positioned. Given you can get tall narrow radiators that could fit a corner

Also what I have noticed is that the bedrooms never contain any wardrobes and there wouldn't be any room for one.
The hallways are massive but the living rooms are tiny.
The show houses have so much furniture in them. Recently saw a show house that had a huge dresser with drawers that was placed in an alcove with the large sofa placed 6" (I measured) in front. Completely impractical and a way of taking the focus off the weird shape of the room.
Offices that are overly large.
Bedroom doors in show houses that open outward

People are always so rude about new builds! ‘The slums of the future’ how melodramatic and insulting! We got one nearly four years ago and love it. Not everyone can afford to buy a detached house with four massive equal sized bedrooms etc etc. All these people saying they’d ‘never buy a semi/never buy a terrace/never buy this, that or the other’ well ok then, that implies an element of choice. The only house we could afford that was big enough/in the right place was a new build, it was either that or carry on renting forever whilst the market became ever more out of reach. And before anyone says we should have moved north/moved in with parents etc, for a whole variety of reasons that wasn’t possible due to jobs and family etc.

Makes me sad to think that people are possibly coming round to our house and pitying us/laughing at us because we got a new build house!