Box rooms

[Beansonapost]

Why is it that houses in the U.K. are still being built with box rooms?


... and still being built with no laundry/utility room?


I grew up having all massive bedrooms... kitchen diner... lounge/living room... utility... garden... garage etc. This is in the Caribbean. My childhood bedroom could fit two uk sized box rooms.


I've lived in other countries almost all of them had utility rooms... except China where the washing was housed in the bathroom; which to me makes sense. Why would you want to do laundry in the kitchen?

Husband is British so is used to this way of life... but I am confused as it's 2018 and I am certain the way people use their homes has changed. Why are people still being forced to have a box room and do the washing in the kitchen? That slot could be used for extra storage.

We went to look at some new builds... while the house was nice for almost £500,000 it just didn't provide what I would want in a family home (based purely on my experience). I think when people buy a home they don't really intend to move anytime soon unless they have to... so why put a room that is useless beyond the age of 10? Then force people to either sell of "create additional space" why not just build a house people can live in for as long as they need or want?

Also where utility rooms are concerned... in a country where it rains so much, wouldn't a dedicated space for laundry be standard? Wash, dry, iron... leave clothes to dry with windows open. Clothes out of sight.


Why is this the norm in the U.K.?

Also... why are homes still built with such poor storage options? You might get an under stair cupboard, an airing cupboard but that's it?! Why aren't built in wardrobes standard in all bedrooms? Gives you back your floor space and means less furniture to buy.

It seems developers are more concerned about how many people they can cram into these developments than how people will enjoy their homes/space.

[banivani]

OP is not rude at all, people seem to be overly defensive on this issue for some reason!

Query: surely the box room is called the box room because it's supposedly for boxes? I.e. what we in Swedish call a "förråd", a lovely word I often miss in English. If I had to choose between an indoor storage room with a window or a usable laundry space I'd choose the latter. I've been doing laundry for a family since I was 15 and have strong opinions on laundry/utility rooms. In my opinion a well-planned house should have a decent sized, easily cleaned utility room with room for washing machine, tumble dryer, some sort of clothes horse/clothes line contraption, an ironing board and direct access to outdoors so you can just walk out with your laundry

Flats in Sweden used to always be built with communal areas, including laundry rooms, but this is changing because builders can't get their investments back as much for communal areas (like entrances, storage rooms, staircases). So all those areas are shrinking or disappearing, and new flats always have their own washing machines. In the bathrooms (that's the norm here, since the bathroom is completely watertight). That are tiny and there is no room to dry the clothes. It's such bad planning!!! I hate it! You end up with a clothes horse in the living room all the time.

[Belphegor]

"It sucks but the British know no better don't like to make a fuss about this sort of thing"

Yep, this. It's not about lack of space - the UK isn't unique in that aspect. It's about design, and the fact developers seem to be catering to the lowest common denominator, and banking on the fact demand will always be present and therefore they only have to think about their bottom line.

[bigKiteFlying]

I think they can sell anything - so don't have to worry about layouts.

One new build we looked round had three doors - outside door, downstairs loo door and door to living room all opening into the same very small hall space - it was mad they'd be bangs.

When we first we looking to buy we had two DC - different sexes and were looking at three beds - and an entire estate had box rooms too small to fit a single bed in - estate agent kept saying oh you could use it as a dressing room -. Another house had three toilets for a three bed house.

Houses we've bought have both been extended by previous owners and in consequence layouts do seem to have been thought about. Though neither property has had everything they have worked for us.

[Yvest]

I have a utility room and I think it’s about my favourite room in my house. I have a washer, a drier, kitchen cupboards where I keep all our toilet tools, bottles of water, homework, spare cereal etc. I’ve also got another fridge freezer and I store all the football boots / sports kit in there and have another sink, mainly used for cleaning muddy boots. A total luxury but would miss it massively if I didn’t have it.

[AutumnMadness]

banivani, I am so with you. I would not even mind a communal laundry space as long as I could comfortably use it to dry clothes inside in cold and damp whether (which is 90% of the time in the UK) and not listen to the washing machine the whole day long, stumble over the clothes horse and have laundry draped over all radiators. But hey - even on a well-above average income in our family, we cannot afford a house with a utility room. Sob.

[AutumnMadness]

Yvest, you made me cry.

[MsPennybloom]

Our new build has a utility space and airing cupboard and no box room, however the same size house on our street, they've added another bedroom so 2 box type rooms and no airing space.

Another 4 bedroom style new build looks massive but no airing cupboard, no utility space and all 4 bedrroms are box-small at most. It's crazy but it's (with help to buy) the only way some can buy a house so they'll take what they can and developers know this. Some houses have garages, where the car cannot fit, a drive big enough for 1 car so lots of cars parked on the road with very little on street parking, it's fun weaving past, ive also seen washing machines in the garage because there is no room on the kitchen and a 'dining' room/living room where you couldn't fit a table and chairs in.

[user1499786242]

We turned our box room into an upstairs laundry room

Problem solved 👍👍

[BarbarianMum]

Oh yes, garages that don't fit in any car bigger than a C1, saw plenty of those. One house we looked at had a coat cupboard in the hall that was 5" deep. Could hold one jacket on a hanger! And this was not a cheap house.

[pigpoglet]

Because it costs money and it's a luxury 🙄🙄

[ILikeMyChickenFried]

I’ve also got another fridge freezer and I store all the football boots / sports kit in there

What the benefit of storing sports clothes in the fridge freezer?

[Onlyoldontheoutside]

I have a 3 bed house,family bathroom, ensuite and downstairs toilet.The downstairs toilet is going and my washing machine and dryer are going in along with lots of shelving as the kitchen is so small you couldn't swing a mouse.
And some thought as to storage by builders would be great,there is space under the stairs but it is a bit of a headbanging crawl to things at the back.
This house was built 15yrs ago and newer builts are even smaller but with kitchen /living rooms and the gardens so small that the fencing is right outside the back door and no green area on the street.

[caperberries]

"Because it costs money and it's a luxury"

That isn't really a complete explanation. Many of these New Build houses with tiny box rooms and no utility have 3 toilets: cloakroom, en suite and family bathroom? This is also a luxury - and completely OTT in such tiny houses?

[grasspigeons]

i agree OP - lots of new builds round here are still doing 2 big bedrooms and a little bedroom. It seems a real feature of a 3 bed house. I never get why they don't just build 3 double bedrooms and lose one of the 3 toilets they all seem to have in the newer ones.


We hunted high and low for a house with 3 double bedrooms and didn't find one in our search area (3 small towns) so I'm not sure they are that common. We saw a few we could move an interal wall and create a wardrobe over the stairs though.


the weird thing I noticed was once you went to a 4 bed house they were more often than not 4 doubles - although occasionally they were 3 doubles and a proper single rather than a box room.

[Beansonapost]

I expected some of these responses.


But it's a serious question to be asked.

Why are homes still being designed the same way?

And land maybe be expensive and population maybe dense... but there is brownfield. There are a lot of derelict old buildings in cities that could be redeveloped into flats... well thought out flats.

I agree cost of heating maybe the reason why rooms are so small... but it still doesn't explain the very deliberate lack of storage. If it must be so small why not put built in storage?!

But other countries in cold climates manage to put these things into their homes.

It's since moving to the uk that I've had to store my linens under my bed 😐. I'm used to having a linen closet... so towels etc are folded and stored usually it's right next to the family bathroom.

The development is in fleet... perhaps a google will identify the development. It had a massive WC on entering 4 people could stand in there.. 4 adults! but not where to store coats and shoes when you enter your home... again another thing I don't get as you need coats/jackets in this country.

I think it's a strategy to get people to "outgrow" their homes and move up the ladder. I'm used to only ever needing to buy one family home and only moving if it was absolutely necessary. Is a family home no longer for "life"? Why are we expected to move every 5-10 years instead of when we've reached retirement and want to downsize.

And as stated the size of the gardens mean no room to extend which would be cheaper than moving.

[DanceDisaster]

We do have an airing cupboard by the family bathroom in our newish build. They can be found!

[grasspigeons]

another odd thing is we buy our homes on number of bedrooms and bathrooms not square feet. DH spents lots of time abroad and property in most of the places he has been is on square feet/meters.

[caperberries]

Yes it's all smoke and mirrors with a lot of these developers. It's well known that they fit out the show homes with specially-made extra tiny furniture (eg lilliputian dining furniture & undersized single beds for box rooms) to support the pretense that they are big enough to fit a bed. Then the new owners move in and are confused to discover that none of their furniture fits.

[sashh]

In 2018, why aren't homes built with these as standard?

Council tax.

[LaurieMarlow]

It's all to do with what you're used to and what you prioritize though.

I certainly wouldn't prioritize a utility room over a cloakroom/extra bathroom/bigger kitchen. I'm perfectly happy with a washer/dryer in the kitchen and we dry everything outside if possible anyway.

Our third bedroom is most definitely a box room, but I'd rather have the extra bedroom than not. We live very centrally in an expensive city and space is at a huge premium. Obviously if we lived in the wilds of Texas, expectations would be different.

[Amanduh]

I don’t think laundry rooms are a neccesity. Box rooms yes I agree. Although am in a new build 3 bed and all the rooms are double sized so haven’t had that problem. Lots are built with them though. It’s all about the £££

[NameChanger22]

I think housing is generally bad in the UK. The last good house builders with the Victorians.

I don't understand why people pay £50k + to go from a two bed house to a three bed (2 beds and a box room). £50k + for a useless tiny room???? I don't think so. And I dread to think what that 50k actually ends up costing when you're paying a mortgage on it for 30 years.

[DiplomaticDecorum]

I'm really surprised that houses are being built with boxrooms. We have one, but I thought it was quite an old-fashioned thing. I've only lived in one other house with one, again that was 150+ years old.

Whereabouts do you live? Is it a regional thing?

[bigKiteFlying]

Why are we expected to move every 5-10 years instead of when we've reached retirement and want to downsize.

My IL and DP are still in the family homes because when they looked at downsizing the properties aren't there.

They don't need the bedrooms really but do still need living space downstairs not least because they are in the houses more with retirement.

Plus the money potentially released isn't as great as many people think.

[DiplomaticDecorum]

Well everyday is a school day - just had a google and found that a small bedroom in a house can also be called a box room. I had no idea. This is what I'd always understood a box room to be, also from google.

'Traditionally, and often seen in country houses and larger suburban houses up until the 1930s in Britain, the box room was for the storage of boxes, trunks, portmanteaux, and the like, rather than for bedroom use'.

Ours has no window and would not be suitable for bedroom use.