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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

That this is not a bedroom?

75 replies

MTBMummy · 03/10/2018 15:13

Please can we start a Mumsnet Campaign?

I'm sick of looking at properties labeled as 4 bedrooms when 2 of them are only 2m x 3m in dimension - these are box rooms, a study maybe, but FFS how can they be classed as a bedroom? A single bed is 0.9m x 1.9m, these rooms have no built in storage so how the fuck are you supposed to fit wardrobes and basic storage in them and still manage to actually see the floor???

Can we create a new law that states a room has to meet a minimum measurement before it can be marketed as a bedroom?

OP posts:
CMOTDibbler · 03/10/2018 15:16

Meh, I lived in a room that size (could only access the kitchen and bathroom) for a year with all my stuff in it. It's not like you don't see what size the room is!

WannabeMumm · 03/10/2018 15:17

I guess the definition of a bedroom is a room with a bed in it? What else would it be called? You can see the sizes on the floor plans.

Dadsbigsausages · 03/10/2018 15:18

I get you. When viewing properties I was sick of second bedrooms being described as double bedrooms when yes it has a double bed, but nothing else!

MyDcAreMarvel · 03/10/2018 15:18

A boxroom is a way to describe a small bedroom.

moonlight1705 · 03/10/2018 15:20

I am trying to sell my flat and its really a one bedroom with a small box room but I have to market it as a 2 bedroom as that is what the land registry / deeds say.

Its annoying and mis-leading to buyers.

Hadalifeonce · 03/10/2018 15:21

I think I remember that in the US, a bedroom can't be described as a bedroom unless it has a wardrobe (closet).

It would make sense for this to be a ruling, especially as lots of new builds seem to have small rooms; at least if you knew a room that size had a built in wardrobe, you would know it could be used as a bedroom.

nocoolnamesleft · 03/10/2018 15:21

I grew up in a bedroom that size, thanks. Happily my dad was good at putting up shelving.

FullOfJellyBeans · 03/10/2018 15:22

I know what you mean I've seen some even more ridiculous ones though. One advertised "separate office space" it turns out the guy living there had tiny desk in the hallway (if you were sitting at the desk no one would be able to walk past).

SoyDora · 03/10/2018 15:25

FullOfJellyBeans we once viewed a house that said ‘separate office/study’ which turned out to be the alcove under the stairs!

Original poster
MTBMummy · 03/10/2018 15:27

I'm aware I can just look at the floor plans, but often these don't have measurements on so you're having to trawl through property descriptions to find some mention of the dimensions.

I know this isn't a major life issue, it's just so frustrating you spot a house in the right area, and it looks beautiful, ticks all the boxes, but then on closer inspection, there's no way we'll fit in there.

Hadalifeonce I love that idea builtin wardrobes just make so much sense, not sure why they're so hard to come by these days.

Did find a ruling that houses of multiple occupancy should have a minimum area of 6.52 square metres for one person and 10.23 sq. m for two persons, can't we just use the same rule for regular houses too?

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 03/10/2018 15:27

I viewed one where the airing cupboard was now apparently the office sigh.

Look at the floor plans before you view.

scortja · 03/10/2018 15:28

YANBU

Ours was listed as a four bedroom - the fourth bedroom is basically a wide hallway from the stairs to the bathroom.. No separate door, not walled off, not actually a room..

Original poster
MTBMummy · 03/10/2018 15:28

FullOfJellyBeans oooh you've given me an idea to market our under stairs space as a home office

OP posts:
Purpleartichoke · 03/10/2018 15:28

In the US a bedroom must have an egress window to be legally considered a bedroom. It’s an issue of fire safety.

xandersmom2 · 03/10/2018 15:30

A few years ago we applied for UK visa for DH. We were staying with my parents initially till we found a rental house. We had to prove (for the visa) that my parents' house would not be overcrowded by us staying there. The govt refused to allow their third bedroom (which was listed on the deeds as being a bedroom) to be counted as a habitable room because it was (very slightly) less than 49 sq feet in size.

We ended up having to claim that our DS was sleeping in the dining room. Which he wasn't. But apparently that was OK as the dining room was 'big enough'.

RicStar · 03/10/2018 15:30

I thought this would be about downstairs reception rooms - i.e. claims to be 4 bed but one is currently the dining room... that is a 3 bed! Those rooms don't sound that small to me though.

dinkydonky · 03/10/2018 15:34

I believe building regs say a bedroom has to be at least 70 sq feet (6.5m2)

2x3m is small but not ridiculously so. Single bed across the narrow end of the room. Some stuff can be stored underneath it. That then leaves you with 4 square metres of floor space which is easily enough to fit in a wardrobe and some drawers.

Bombardier25966 · 03/10/2018 15:35

Please can we start a Mumsnet Campaign?

I'd rather they campaigned to help the four million+ children living in poverty, than about a bedroom that is in fact big enough to be a bedroom.

NerdyBird · 03/10/2018 15:36

A bedroom must have a window, but I'm not sure there are any specifications about size. Building regs cover this. Our 4th bedroom is ok but only really suitable as a guest or small child bedroom.

flowerythorns · 03/10/2018 15:37

But what if it self IDs as a bedroom? Who are we to judge.?

mostdays · 03/10/2018 15:39

That's what cabin bed/ high sleepers were invented for!

I think ds3's bedroom may be smaller than the one you have described, because DH had to build a new bed frame to fit a single bed in there at all. It is a very small room indeed. (And DH I and I do sleep in what was previously the dining room. I hate it.)

FruitofAutumn · 03/10/2018 15:41

If you put in a high sleeper you can get wardrobe + cof d or desk under

RustyBear · 03/10/2018 15:41

@purpleartichoke - that rule applies in the uk too since 2000

“Means of escape requirements from a dwelling.
All habitable rooms to dwellings and extensions shall have first floor windows suitable for means of escape. This also applies to all ground storey habitable rooms, which do not connect to a hallway leading directly to an outside door.
Achieving the requirement.
The window should have an unobstructed clear openable area that is at least 0.33m2 and have no clear dimension less than 450mm high and 450mm wide (the route through the window may be at an angle rather than straight through), appropriate escape catches and hinges must be fitted to ensure this clear opening is achieved.”

My sister had a problem when she was remodelling one big bedroom and a massive bathroom into two bedrooms and a smaller bathroom. Although the windows (Cotswold stone mullions) had been in the bedroom for over a century, because she was changing it, they had to comply with the new regulations. If she hadn’t wanted to make changes, it would have been perfectly ok to leave them as they were...

Original poster
MTBMummy · 03/10/2018 15:41

RicStar oh there's those too... Although there's times I would happily lock myself in a downstairs bedroom to escape the rest of the snoring family - our current house has the 5th bedroom downstairs off the living room (it's what anyone else would call a study)

lowerythorns that's a good point, how do we check what the room ID's itself as?

OP posts:
AlphaBravo · 03/10/2018 15:41

@MTBMummy they are following the law. That's the bloody problem. They build to the smallest possible specs to increase profit margins.

The law needs to be bloody changed. My whole 2004 2bed apartment is the size of my Aunt's 1960s living room (not even joking)