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AIBU?

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Original poster

People who design houses should have to live in them!

210 replies

SweetMoon · 15/02/2018 11:01

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!

OP posts:
Oldraver · 16/02/2018 19:29

I think I've just realised why our downstairs loo has the door open onto the hall...for accessability ?

Our house is nearly 20 years old so no longer 'new build'.. and was built with two en-suites and a (small) family bathroom. But all the rooms are a decent size not massive but can fit a king size bed and other furniture and have built in wardrobes. We also have two decent cupboard in the hall.

The houses were built to suit the site and the footprint is bigger than other new build four beds, I'm sure if townhouses were allowed to of been built here there would of been three of them in place of each house...

The 'new' estate that has been been built in our town is all full of terraced town houses with no garages or out front parking...It's like Coronation Street in Cotswold Stone

GreenShadow · 16/02/2018 19:34

Work Unfortunately this was all we could afford
But surely you always pay a massive premium for a new build over an older house - you certainly do round here.

BothersomeCrow · 16/02/2018 19:58

I'm in London and houses pre-1940 are at a premium (generous proportions and pretty), then up to 1950s (varying size but we'll designed and solid if not pretty). 1970s estates cheaper as they are both ugly and ex-council, but solid and well designed. Newer stuff cheapest of the lot unless actually brand new so can specify parts of it. But loads of variation and dodgy conversions of houses into poky flats.

Sisterj · 16/02/2018 20:00

Bedrooms that don't fit beds in is one thing but how much of our time do we spend at work so we have money for "stuff" and then how much time do we spend at work earning money to pay for somewhere to keep this stuff? It's crazy!

I'm not being judgemental when I say that. We have a small open plan house which forces us to be selective on what comes in and it's a good thing.

Sisterj · 16/02/2018 20:01

Pressed post too soon. I was going to say that if we had endless cupboards no doubt they'd end up full too.

SaskaTchewan · 16/02/2018 20:09

I don't think it's just about "stuff". I have seen houses with bathrooms too small for a washing machine, fine, but then no utility room, and a kitchen too small for a machine - let alone a dish-washer and dryer.
Some small apartments don't have much space either, but at least there's a communal washer and dryer in the building, so there has been some thoughts in the design.

Even the most minimalist person needs to eat, shower, have a hoover, possibly an ironing board, luggage. How do we end up with houses too small to live in?

When even Ikea furniture get too big for a house, there's a problem somewhere. Let's not even start on the noise, space might be a premium but developers should not be able to get away with selling semi or terraced houses where you can hear the neighbour sneeze.

Elderpond · 16/02/2018 21:11

The only reason we went for our new build was the help to buy scheme. We are two families coming together so a lot of children and this is how we could afford the extra money. In an ideal world I wouldn't live in one ( I would also be a lottery winner but that's beside the point).

Corcory · 16/02/2018 21:19

Know what you mean about new builds.
We have a 'new' build but we designed and built it ourselves so plenty of storage and good sized rooms even though not a big house. The trick we used was we designed it with no corridors and we have a dinning hall which is great as we use the dinning table all the time unlike if it was in a dinning room.

Baubletrouble43 · 16/02/2018 22:21

Greenshadow I found that a new build was a cheaper option than an older house.

Helipad · 16/02/2018 22:51

But surely you always pay a massive premium for a new build over an older house - you certainly do round here.

We had a sizeable budget of £660k when we bought our current house (new build). Any older property within the ten mile radius would have been at least 100k more. And still need more money to get rid of old person decor, a shower room in the kitchen and other multitude jobs that older properties need.

honeysucklejasmine · 16/02/2018 22:55

We're in a new build. It's a four bed, or three and an office, but plenty big enough to be a bedroom if need be. The other three rooms are big enough for a double. In fact, we have a superking bed in our room. We've an ensuite with an oversize shower, and a family bathroom.

Downstairs there's a good size living room and a huge kitchen diner. There's a cupboard in the hallway (full height) and another cupboard under the stairs, which is accessed from kitchen, so loads of storage. Although my neighbor tells me her 5 bed doesn't have as much storage as ours so I guess we're lucky in that respect.

honeysucklejasmine · 16/02/2018 22:56

We also found the new build cheaper than existing property, and with added bonus of NHBC and builders warranties.

MrsHathaway · 16/02/2018 23:10

Although my neighbor tells me her 5 bed doesn't have as much storage as ours so I guess we're lucky in that respect.

I wonder if it's the same footprint/basic build but with different stud walls.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 17/02/2018 00:03

We looked at loads of houses but our newbuild was an easy choice for us because we were very busy with our business, (which we ran from home) and our four kids. We needed to be able to move straight in somewhere without having to deal with loads of building work and disruption.

We painted one wall of colour in each of the kids rooms and that was basically it for a few years.

madsiemoomoo · 17/02/2018 08:35

We very definitely crossed new builds off our list as they all seem to suffer from the same issues - inadequate parking, tiny gardens and no storage. I don't need a million en suite bathrooms, just a decent cupboard to store the hoover and ironing board!

JustDanceAddict · 17/02/2018 08:59

Your post made me chuckle as I also live in an NB town house and whoever designed it didn’t really think of how a ‘normal’ family would live in it. It’s supoosed to be a ‘family’ home but the kitchen is too small (not enough cupboards), and they just haven’t thought it through. Tbh if we had the money I would move again but it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

JustDanceAddict · 17/02/2018 09:00

Was cheaper option, hence buying it (off plan - never again!)

Oldraver · 17/02/2018 11:10

I have seen houses with bathrooms too small for a washing machine,

You have mentioned this a few times and I'm puzzled as to why ?

I dont think bathrooms in the UK are ever built to take a washing machine, its just not done

brownelephant · 17/02/2018 11:13

having the washing mashine in the bathroom is standard in many european countries.
makes total sense to me.

but wrt the poster who mentions it, it sounds like there is no space forseen at all for a washer in that house.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 17/02/2018 12:48

People seem very caught up with a place for their ironing board and Hoover. Mine live in the cupboard under the stairs (along with coats and shoes for 6). Surely everyone has a cupboard under the stairs?

HotCrossBunFight · 17/02/2018 12:51

Nope!

Bratsandtwats · 17/02/2018 12:53

Massive 4 bed houses with a teeny, tiny kitchen!?

I mean, if you have 5 or 6+ people in the family then yes, 4 cupboards and a foot of worktop is plenty isn't it?!

SimonBridges · 17/02/2018 13:00

Surely everyone has a cupboard under the stairs?

Many new builds don’t. They put a toilet in there instead just in case you lose control of your bowels before you make to one of the 5 toilets.

Zaphodsotherhead · 17/02/2018 13:00

Tinkly No, a lot of more open plan houses just have the stairs going right out of the living room - no cupboard underneath!

Eggzandbacon · 17/02/2018 13:03

Many of the new builds near me have massive integral garages taking up half the ground floor space.

I suppose it means you can convert them but it passes the cost and grief onto you.

I wouldn't buy one as the parking spaces are always crap in the ones near me. I want space for 2 cars comfortably.

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