‘I have to move my bike to get to the fridge’ – the UK boom in microflats. AIBU to think this type of living is awful and developers should be stopped from creating these units?

[flashbac]

www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/15/uk-boom-microflats-property-house-prices-barratts

How is it legal to sell or rent out 'homes' like this? He has to wear earplugs to drown out the noise from his boiler and fridge. There is no sink in the partitioned off loo. What kind of life is this?

"The rent is relatively affordable at £900 per month" 😂 fucking hell!

£900 a month for that! Wow.

Because he didn’t want to house share anymore. That’s the compromise he has made for his own space.

It's the toilets opening onto kitchens that's particularly grim IMO.

I can't keep my like in my house, I think he's approached this from the wrong angle.

Grabby developers. I remember seeing the Temple Fields news stories a few years back - they are effectively rabbit hutches. It’s despicable but the government don’t care so it’ll only get worse.

Just because some people are desperate enough to live this way doesn't mean that creating the circumstances that require living this way is acceptable in a developed country in the modern age.

Originally because such bedsit/studios were cheap, relatively temporary and easy to keep.

Seems odd that when they are in Japan everyone is wowed by them. But not so much in London. One comment in this pice "The convenience store is my fridge"

www.nippon.com/en/news/fnn20200211001/tokyo%E2%80%99s-micro-apartments-see-a-surge-in-popularity-the-secret-of-living-in-a-shoe-box.html

Honestly I think in the situation we find ourselves in with the environment, carbon emissions, climate change etc, this might be the way forward. Living like this makes more sense than big homes that require more heating and insulation. But it would definitely take some getting used to.

I live in Japan where small apartments are the norm and families live in one room, sleeping on futon that are packed away during the day so the room can be used for other things. It's really fine, people just have far, far less stuff.

@almahart

It's the toilets opening onto kitchens that's particularly grim IMO.

Yep that's disgusting. But hardly surprising given what landlords are like really is it? All of those Barratt homes tiny flats will be bought by landlords to rent. Most won't be bought by actual person or couple that will use it.

Ha, my flat is only marginally bigger than that, although I only pay £600 for the privilege

But in the "older" bedsits and boarding houses where young professionals (office workers etc) lived in cities, people didn't cook every meal there — workplaces had canteens or people went out for lunch. Boarding houses often had a communal dining room.

They were more similar in concept to a room in student halls.

That’s horrible. They made a town house in to 10 “flats” and then charge £900 per month.

Even with minimal stuff, that’s no way to live.

Jesus - the bit about his neighbours being a couple with a 2 year old kid in similar sized flat - I think I would actually snap. I can't imagine living like that.

It looks like they are being offered as an alternative to flat shares, rather than as an alternative to one bed flats?

I don't see the appeal, personally. I would take a house share over having my bed next to my hob, but if you've got £900 a month to spend on rent, you've considered your options and chosen that over a flatshare or a 1 bed in a cheaper area, so it isn't like anyone is being forced.

If flats this size became the norm for social housing, I would be more concerned...

@almahart

It's the toilets opening onto kitchens that's particularly grim IMO.

Wasn't/isn't that pretty normal in loads of houses though?

The bathroom being off the kitchen with a door between them?

Every single student house in my uni town was like that, as was the first house I bought

I think modern building regs require 2 doors between a bathroom and kitchen, but there are still thousands of houses around the country which don't have that

The rent includes utilities.

And it's the person's choice to live there, share a house or move to a cheaper location.

I suspect that the individual wants to have his own space and not have to worry about who cleans the kitchen or leaves laundry in the washing machine or monopolises the sitting room or fails to clean the bathroom...

I would have really quite liked this sort of set up when I was younger. IMO it’s so much nicer than a shared house and means your can afford to live somewhere really central that would normally be out of budget. The thought of the couple living there with a 2YO makes me shudder though. It’s definitely a single person place.

@FreeBritnee

Because he didn’t want to house share anymore. That’s the compromise he has made for his own space.

Just wanted to add "in london." In the majority of the UK you can get get a significantly larger amount of your own space for £900. I have a 2 bed semi for a mortgage of £300p/m in a different UK capital city.

If you are a single person without a family, the vast majority of jobs can be done outside of London so it is to some extent a choice to stay there and pay extortionate money for a tiny space.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a very small bedroom and bathroom. I had an absolutely tiny room with ensuite- much smaller than 37m and it was fine, but I had a shared kitchen. The problem comes when you need to add cooking and food storage and preparation facilities and I can't see how people can get around the issue of fitting small flats with then.

I really don't understand why we consider it essential to fit at least a washing machine and often a tumble dryer into every flat though. Elsewhere in Europe and the States most flats have a laundry room in the building for shared use. No idea why we don't do the same! It must be healthier than having washing drying in such a tiny space and when i lived alone i barely did one wash a week anyway so seems a bit of a waste.

Laws for private and social housing should be the same. In social housing if the boiler is in a room it cannot be considered a bedroom.
No doubt the owner has some lame excuse about be coming an accidental LL.

£900 a month for that? Is London really worth that?

Bike may be in front of the fridge, but he’s got space for 3 guitars 🤷🏻‍♀️

There is legislation around the size of dwellings that can be built, and I think that’s absolutely right.

But the concept of micro living? Not an issue in itself.

I don’t like that boiler being in the bedroom.
I think the rent is outrageous.
I can’t get bothered about the loo not having its own sink - that would be a total waste of space.

I hate living in London😭 prices and places like this are honestly unacceptable. £900 to live in a box

He could free up some floor space by getting a loft bed. That would help with the noise as well.

I’d be interested to hear about the size and type of home the people defending this live in.
No, it’s not sustainable for everyone to live innGrand Designs-style mansions.
Yes, we need to encourage more people to live in apartments and in existing densely populated urban areas.
No, the way to do this isn’t to turn vaste swathes of land into giant concrete piggy banks for the wealthy, aka tiny, barely inhabitable cells for the rest.