To think U.K. houses and flats are not fit for purpose?

[Notcontent]

So - I know that there is a housing shortage - but I think too much forces is on getting houses and flats built no matter how small/inadequate, which can cause huge problems for the people living there.

The U.K. has some of the smallest houses in Europe. I am not saying people need huge houses - far from it actually. But homes should have:

• adequate heat and sound insulation
• rooms that are big enough for storage, etc
• somewhere for people to dry their clothes
• etc

I am not an architect but I am interested in this as I have lived in a few different countries, in different houses and flats, and have experienced first hand how small things in house design can make a huge difference to people’s quality of life.

YANBU I live in an ex council flat (4 flats in a block, 2 ground floor, 2 1st floor) built in the 1950s to house displaced people from a nearby town that was heavily bombed. The rooms are large, the building solid with a nice size front and back garden with the intention that people would grow their own vegetables etc.

When I've thought of selling up and move to a more modern house and compare mine to modern houses they are tiny, when I've been to friends the walls seem thin with neighbour noise easily heard and if they have gardens they are pokey and often odd shapes.

Insead of selling land to the highest bidder to developers that build cheap, poorly finished homes they should invest more in long lasting homes that are built to last.

Insead of selling land to the highest bidder to developers that build cheap, poorly finished homes they should invest more in long lasting homes that are built to last

I agree and I don’t understand why there isn’t government legislation forcing developers to build decent homes.

And light. Council house design concerned itself with creating fit places to live for all, to maximise health and well-being. Modern design seems to ignore all of that, preferring the ethos of money-making instead. The plots also included gardens to be used for veg growing, and estates were originally designed to be pleasant.

The modern practice of putting great big 5 or 6 bedroom houses on tiny gardens befuddles me completely.

There needs to be size regulation on what counts as a bedroom. We were shown some staged with a toddler bed that would barely take a full length single.

I’m not sure my Victorian terrace ticks any of those boxes, it’s not just a new build issue. I’ve lived in other countries too and I’ve never had clothes drying space unless you count the tumble dryer. When I lived in the US every place we had banned line drying laundry. Lovely big closets though!

What baffles me most is the lack of basements/cellars in British houses. You could still build the same number of houses on the same land, and every house would get extra storage space + a utility room. But no, no basements.

UK houses are built to maximise profit. That’s it. We live in a capitalist hellscape where people are charge outrageous sums for low quality tiny dwellings crammed into estates designed around cars. It’s sickening really.

Yanbu. Our population density isnt much higher than germany yet our average new property is 76sqm, theirs is 109sqm. Its s massive difference.

Not sure if it's because we need to build more apartments vs houses, or if it's because our planning and housing sector is geared around corporates extracting bumper profits, but either way it's terrible.

YANBU. We are in a 2 bed new-build and it's ridiculously small. People just up the road are in ex Council houses that are almost double the size. We have one DC and it would be impossible to have another. We are living on top of each other as it is. There's nowhere to dry washing, no bathroom window and an inadequate fan which takes ages to work and makes an awful racket! In fact I hate it here. I would never have bought a new-build unless I had no choice which I didn't! It's shared ownership and imo inadequate and almost unfit for purpose.

When DH and I were buying we told the estate agent we would not view any 2 bedroom apartment smaller than 65 sq m. The estate agent got grumpy with us, their website was full of tiny 50-55sqm shoebox newbuilds!

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

There needs to be size regulation on what counts as a bedroom. We were shown some staged with a toddler bed that would barely take a full length single.

There is, isn't there?

Totally agree - seeing houses with bedrooms you could barely get a single bed in and the town houses to squish more in with tiny little yards on new estates were they could have factored in a little garden at least - and the new houses that tick all your boxes are really expensive

I seem to remember Kevin McCloud doing a programme about this years ago. He showed how modern build houses compare with other countries in terms of size (it won’t surprise you that UK ones were much smaller) and the effect of living without enough light. IIRC house builder companies refused to answer his questions on the matter…

Our homes are shit, its not just the fact they are tiny its the design and fittings as well, if Yakutia can have homes for residents that maintain 20 degree heat with only 1 heater while its minus 40 outside, why are millions in this country which isn't even really cold living in freezing homes they cant afford to heat. and why do our homes roast us in summer when they freeze us in winter.

if you look at Japan the way they design the interiors of small properties is great, so space saving and convenient I love Japanese bathrooms, our homes are stuck in the 1800s.

serious lack of solar panels and turbines on high rise apartments that could easily accommodate them too.

When I look at bedroom size in most new builds I am immediately wondering where they hand clothing as there is barely space for a basic double bed and bedside cabinets, let alone a couple of wardrobes and drawers!

Likewise actual cloakrooms for actually putting coats / shoes / bags etc..

See also laundry - having a separate utility space is seen as some sort of bonus! Like, YAY a room to wash my fecking pants AND take a shit..

Yanbu.

YANBU. I have been around a fair bit and nowhere have I come across such uncomfortable and inconvenient houses. The squirrels and foxes and hedgehogs are nice, though.

I agree with you OP.

Actually my flat built in the 1930s has better space saving designs then modern dumps, I have a walk in wardrobe built into the wall that lines up with the airing cupboard in the hall and the kitchen has a larder cupboard built into the wall that lines up with the broom cupboard in the living room so there is lots of storage but no intrusive odd wall angles caused by them to other rooms walls.

I used to live in Singapore with a single induction hob and a table top oven on the balcony, it was a 2 bed, 45sqm and was considered a luxury condo. Cost £1800 equivalent per month 10 years ago. But yes, the new builds and micro flats of today are not much better than the tenements of the past.

@brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

UK houses are built to maximise profit. That’s it. We live in a capitalist hellscape where people are charge outrageous sums for low quality tiny dwellings crammed into estates designed around cars. It’s sickening really.

This. And politicians are happy to say X number of houses have been built without worrying about whether they're actually any good to live in.

Council flats are the worst. Half the ones I can bid on are no good to me because they can't fit a washing machine and a fridge freezer. Some can't even fit a cooker, there's only space for a hotplate type thing!

I completely agree. They build so many tiny spaced one bedroom flats, all to much smaller proportions. Family homes do not have enough storage space and no place for a proper dinner table. It’s awful.

YANBU. Homes England should be the organisation that helps deal with this issue. But they work with developers and builders rather than residents and communities. There should be a way of achieving both outcomes without either side massively compromising. I can't move because my 1970s 3 bed mid terrace has a bigger floorplan and garden than 4 bed detached new builds in my local area.

This is a reason why old houses can come at s premium. Actual gardens and much better proportions.