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.

[Atthebottomofthesea]

Houses are getting smaller, I read a report recently and houses being built now are the smallest they have ever been.

We have a 18yr old 3 bed detached with integral garage. We recently looked at new builds, the one 4 bed had a smaller footprint than our current house as the garage was detached. So 4 bedrooms in the place of 3. The rooms were tiny, as they were in most houses we looked at.

We are now buying a 1970's house with 3 double bedrooms.

[Atthebottomofthesea]

Hopefully this will work.

news.sky.com/story/britains-houses-have-never-been-smaller-according-to-new-analysis-11323783

[Mightymucks]

OP, developers don’t bother adding a garage and utility room to houses when it doesn’t add enough value to them to sacrifice the huge price of an extra house you could build on the same land. It’s irrelevant that there is brownfield, because even if developers build on it they are going to do so in a way which maximises their profits so they’re not going to bother with extra floor space which doesn’t add enough value which is what garages and utility rooms are. Besides, few people actually have the luxury of a ‘box room’ now, it is a small bedroom.

If you want that sort of house you’ll have to get an old one and it costs more than most people can afford. Everybody else is in the same boat as you because housing is so expensive.

The price you pay for living in an economy which attracts a lot of people to live and work is that space is at a premium. There’s more space in the Caribbean but standard of living is much lower and the economies are much weaker.

And I agree with a PP who said you’re being rude. It’s not because we’re stupid or daft or have architects and developers who just haven’t heard of these things. It’s economics, economics which you benefit from by choosing to be here. Otherwise I imagine you and DH would have upped sticks for the Caribbean if it was so much rosier there.

We are all in the same boat with housing and it’s frustrating. But, no, this situation has not come about because we’re too thick to know it’s nicer to have a lot of storage. We know. We just can’t afford it either.

[DairyisClosed]

British Houses by and large are utterly horrible and very badly planned. Also grew up overseas and also don't understand why houses here are so terrible. Combination of lack of space and low standards I think.

[BackforGood]

Like the kitchen isn't shut away anymore... people want open plan because it's a nice sociable space

Er, no. I don't.
Why are you assuming that just because you have a particular taste or requirement, that we all do ?

I think masses of space in a bedroom is a real waste - what am I going to do in there other than get dressed / undressed / go to bed ? I've never had a need / desire for a king sized bed - I'd rather have that extra bath / /shower / toilet.

Lots of people like box rooms to use for a study / home office. It would certainly be a requirement for me in my next move. A separate small room where one person can be working when the other is asleep / watching TV is FAR more useful than a massive single space in most busy family lives, IME.

[Atthebottomofthesea]

I wanted separate spaces, it was pretty impossible to find in a new build within budget.

[grasspigeons]

I agree its economics in that developers work in a way to maximise profits and they are always going to do that and always have done.

but its not as straightforward as that is it - we have tightly regulated planning and land use and we also have an economic policy that is so LONDON centric that is creates a pressure pot.

It doesn't actually have to be like this. We could change our planning and land use regulations. IT would be easy to have minimium room sizes for instance as I am fairly sure council built properties used to. We could invest in transport links between other major cities, we could incentivise businesses to relocate.

There isn't the political will to build new towns but apparently there is more land giving to golf courses in surrey than housing!

[Mightymucks]

IT would be easy to have minimium room sizes for instance

Which would mean fewer houses built, so even more expensive both because of scarcity and extra size and land used.

[Beansonapost]

I'm not here because of economics, let that be clear. Not everyone in the Caribbean in poor by any means.


I never made the assumption anyone is stupid or daft.

I'm asking what I think is a legitimate question... other countries with expensive housing manage to do these things so why can't the UK?

And yes maybe not everyone wants open plan etc. Preference as one PP said. I like a big bedroom... I want to walk around my bed, plus my husband is very tall anything but a king size bed would see his feet hanging off the edge.

Just to say when I asked the rep about the size of the room she said "you'll move by the time your son (who is one) wants more space"... but my question was what if I can't afford to do so when he wants that space?

I'll be stuck in a house that doesn't meet my needs or get a bigger loan to facilitate my own comfort. I think that's a bit shit... a house is the biggest investment you're likely to make, shouldn't it give you what you need from the start or at least the opportunity to do that in the future?

[bbpp]

I agree with all the economics issues raised but I really would not like to see US size houses become the norm. From an environmental perspective they are terrible, more resources to build, more power to heat and light and more spread out so a further reliance on cars. We'd also take up so much of our agriculture and natural space, we simply aren't a large enough country for population. On a national scale, densely packed cities are the best for the environment. And I don't know about everyone else, but I'd prefer not to flood island nations and have millions of displaced, starved people due to droughts.

[bluerunningshoes]

yanbu
at least the pokey, almost unusable room should not be called bedroom.
imo a bedroom should fit a standard single bed, bedside table, desk/table, 2 door wardrobe,

a room 1.5 by 1.8m does not fit that bill.

[Ishouldntbesolucky]

I agree that quite a number of houses in this country are badly designed. I think a big issue is that we tend to sell houses by the number of bedrooms. It's time we moved to square metres - I'm convinced it would make a difference.


*and yes I know that whichever country you're in, both the number of bedrooms and plot size are given, but the primary focus is different. Developers seem so intent on cramming in as many 3 or 4 bedroom houses they don't care that some are ridiculously tiny.

[SoyDora]

We have a new build with 4 double bedrooms, large open plan kitchen diner, 2 additional reception rooms, a utility and garage. And paid far less than £500k for it!

[BackforGood]

I'll be stuck in a house that doesn't meet my needs or get a bigger loan to facilitate my own comfort. I think that's a bit shit... a house is the biggest investment you're likely to make, shouldn't it give you what you need from the start or at least the opportunity to do that in the future?

Er. Yes. That's not unique to the UK That's how it works in any free market. Nobody would expect to be able to buy their 'dream home' for their first home. Same as with your first car. Or your first phone, or camera, or whatever equipment you need for your hobby. You start with what you can afford with the income you have. Generally in life, people start out pretty broke when they are young, and start earning more as they move up the career ladder. Once your income increases, then you can start looking at saving, or at borrowing bigger multiples.

what an odd argument.

[AornisHades]

Pp mentioned the large downstairs toilet. I believe that there are some rules around accessibility for downstairs toilets in some types of new build housing.
Otherwise, yes developers want to make as much as they can. The government has dictated that x number of houses must be built in certain areas and local authorities are having to allow that development. Even without that, big developers have the deep pockets to challenge local authority planning refusals and local authorities cannot afford to pay the legal costs to keep fighting them.
So we end up with box rooms and tiny garages and housing estates that are cramped and crowded.

[grasspigeons]

mightymucks - it really wouldn't

I am looking at a new build estate being built right now. I know that in those houses you cannot have a bed in the third bedroom and operate the door. (the occupants of the finished houses are taking the door of the hinges and just not having a door to that room). They have 3 bathrooms.

I can not see how just having two bathrooms but having a third bedroom you can have a door on is going to suddenly make the land scarce and put prices up. Its just putting less stuff in the same space, but making sure the less stuff works properly.

and it was part of a bigger picture, land isn't that scarce across the uk as a whole, so we could give over marginally more land to build marginally bigger houses. The uk has a lot at stake to keep property prices high and I think government policy is about maintaining high property prices. I don't think it has to be this way.

[C0untDucku1a]

Completely agree with the op. Ive a 60’s house on a Big plot but the third bedroom is ridiculously small. I could put a great sized extension on and it not make the garden average size, let alone small, but wtf cant the third bedroom be big enough as it is?!?!

Most family houses are going to have children in them. Why dont developers make a master, then the next two bedrooms the same
Size? Why a double and a tiny one. Why not two equal
Sized bedrooms? Surely that makes sense?

[gillybeanz]

Gosh, I find the opposite tbh.
The new builds I have seen whilst very tiny have had laundry rooms and more bathrooms and toilets than I could cope with.
But I agree they are tiny and not fit for normal family living.

Many people hardly spend anytime at home these days, kids are at school/ wraparound care, both parents working.
They only need a box tbh.

ours is a large Edwardian semi, and whilst the smallest bedroom is much smaller than the other 3, you can still fit a full size single bed, wardrobes drawers bookcase and desk, with a small square of free carpet.

[Beansonapost]

@BackforGood some people will never earn that big salary to afford a bigger mortgage... that's the reality in this country. Therefore whatever home you buy or can afford should meet your needs and I believe should give you the opportunity to do in the future. But with these new builds you get little to no garden so extending etc will never be an option.


Also depending on where you buy... how can you guarantee an appreciation on the house? You may very well end up with negative equity! Where does this leave you? Small house... hardly meeting your needs etc etc. New builds don't resell very well as I've read. People still prefer older homes, understandably so.

Yes to buying what you can afford, but that should also be well thought out and designed to not just meet the basic need for shelter.

[Mightymucks]

I'm asking what I think is a legitimate question... other countries with expensive housing manage to do these things so why can't the UK?

They don’t. Densely populated wealthy countries have small expensive housing.

Small house... hardly meeting your needs etc etc.

Do you think people choose to live in small houses? They don’t have much choice.

People buy what they can afford.

If you believe (which you apparently do) that you have suddenly miraculously thought up the idea of ‘space’ and ‘storage’ which are novel concepts in the UK I suggest you set up an architecture consultancy and explain this supposed solution to UK builders and then they can build these huge affordable houses. You’ll make a killing.

You’ve had it repeatedly explained to you why it’s not an economically viable proposition but you’re determined to think it’s just because the British are thick.

[Rollercoaster1920]

Some of the aggressive responses on this thread are a bit harsh. As a general comment British houses, especially new builds don't have utilities.

OP - I agree with you, a utility should be part of the build. We are looking at extending our house and trying to create a utility space. It is a trade of with a larger kitchen / diner / family room though so is a challenge.

As for why - I think we need to look back in history. A lot of UK housing stock is Victorian. The working class didn't even have a toilet inside the house, and the occupancy rates were high. Also the smaller rooms were easier to keep warmth in during long wet winters.

My 1950s house had a coal fire with a back boiler for hot water. No central heating, single pane metal framed windows.

[evilharpy]

YANBU about box rooms.

I live in a 1960s ex council three bed terrace which has a communal parking area. We've been looking at houses recently as we would ideally like a driveway and garage, but almost everything we've seen has two ok bedrooms and one that's completely unusable as a bedroom. And usually an ensuite which would have been space much better used to make the third room bigger. Our current house has a third bedroom that you can at least get a bed into. It would cost us so much more to buy a house with a driveway and we would lose space inside so it's looking like it's not worth bothering until we have a bigger budget in a few years.

Funny enough we've looked at a couple of 1930s terraces that I assumed would be quite spacious inside but both have had the same tiny box room.

I can't get worked up about utility rooms, I don't really care where the washing machine and tumble dryer are as long as we have them. Although we moved ours from the kitchen into an outbuilding and it's much better as we we have extra cupboard space and don't have to put up with the noise.

[OlennasWimple]

I have rejected many many houses over the years because they don't have a place to store the ironing board and a hoover

I would rather have a larger bedroom than a small bedroom and an ensuite

I don't care where my washing machine is but I would prefer that it wasn't in the kitchen

I love having an airing cupboard (don't have one at the moment and miss it)

Bedrooms that cannot fit a bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers are not real bedrooms

Separate showers / toilets are really handy for families

^^ I don't think I'm unusual for thinking this!

[SoyDora]

Some of the aggressive responses on this thread are a bit harsh. As a general comment British houses, especially new builds don't have utilities

I’m surprised at this. I have lived in many houses in the uk from loads of eras and the only ones I’ve lived in with utilities have been new builds. They have been large new builds though (4/5 beds, 3 reception rooms, 3 bathrooms etc)

[LoislovesStewie]

I live in a Victorian terrace; 4 big bedrooms, living room, separate dining room, our utility room is now a downstairs shower room. (We do have an upstairs bathroom) Perhaps you need to look into buying something with the space to do the same.