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.

Both my sets of grandparents lived in council houses built during the inter-war years. They were large, three bedroom semi detached houses with high ceilings, big rooms and gardens front and back. They were situated on estates where the houses were spaced out and incorporating green spaces. They were much better than most recent new builds I’ve seen, despite their unglamorous reputation.

When were house hunting last year, I did hanker after s nice, shiny new build. But I was conscious of size. A 4 bed with 3 bathrooms, but all tiny.

We ended up in a 70s 4 bed. Has an old fashioned separate kitchen and only one bathroom, but the space and the light and the size of the garden.......
And OK, it's not as shiny and crisp inside, but the windows are huge. And you're more than a footstep away from your neighbour.

The modern shoeboxes built nw are destined to become the slums/ poor housing in the near future. I've always maintained that we as a society don't like living cheek by jowl with others, either as households or in close proximity to neighbours.

1950s temporary Council housing was far superior to what is being built for sale now.
Housing for the masses should be built on that blue print. Decent sized rooms and gardens.
I've said it before but we need a mass housing project to clear the housing lists.
The empty/ unused properties should be compulsory seized by Councils. Unless the owners can show good reason they should be liable for making them habitable too. It would encourage sales as they try to avoid the seizing of properties, bringing down housing prices..supply and demand, as well as release a sizeable number to local councils.
Private rental should be capped at 2/3rds of local council rent. Ie. 1 bed flat= £90 council rent, 1 bed flat Private rent no more than £60..
They would either rent or sell, adding the supply..
In a rich country nobody should be homeless and quality housing should be a right not a privilege for a few.

YANBU. And I don’t think developers and politicians care. They’re happy for enormous towers of tiny, inconvenient flats with no balconies to be thrown up, barely lived in, and then knocked down and replaced a few years later. It’s so disgustingly wasteful and lacking in vision and ambition.

Let’s be honest. This is only really a problem in new builds. I’m in a 1963 ex council house and I’ve got a 23x11ft living room. master bedroom is 19ft by 9ft. Double room is 14ft by 12.5ft and single room is 9ft by 8.5ft. I’ve got two huge cupboards upstairs, one downstairs and a pantry. Tiny bathroom and small kitchenette mind you but really big rooms compared to new builds. Half the price too

YANBU. U.K. homes are ludicrously small given the amount of time we spend in them because the weather is always shite!

I don’t know how people are expected to live in modern properties and have room for white goods, Hoover, dining table etc.

I agree I have small flat but half the year it’s gloomy darkness in the day time as windows do not give enough light into main kitchen/living room. Have buildings opposite so don’t like have lights on in the day time where they can see right in.

However around me always more and more flats with balconies which seem
Nice but literally are arms
Length of neighbours to side up and below and see straight onto 10s of homes opposite. Again unless you happy with no privacy or want blinds and darkness in the day it’s so dreary.

The customer is king. So long as people keep buying them they will keep building. If people would pay a sufficient premium for more space it wouldn’t be an issue.

The customer has little choice.

While I don't agree with the OP, as it's too sweeping a statement, here's an interesting thing I was told by a floor fitter. He'd been doing work in a new build block of very fancy flats that were being sold for eyewatering prices. Included in the block were a number of social housing flats. He told me that the social housing flats were bigger because social housing is more stringently regulated than private housing.

I think there should be minimum bedroom size for all new builds or conversions. Also good requirement for insulation. Finding a government willing to impose that would be very hard.

The trouble with a condition on existing homes is someone buying a two bed home in 2022 and finding they can only market as a one bedroom when they need to sell. Even if prices of home in the area have gone up buyers may only look at properties marketed as two bed so sell at a lower price maybe even worst case negative equity.

Councils may object as the hey have targets for homes to build. If retrospective it would also make a lot more families officially overcrowded.

Hmm.. not sure I agree.

I live in a 120 year old solid stone constructed wonky 4 bed 2 bath house. It’s got a massive garden and loss of character. I’m selling it and moving to a new build 3 bed semi with a garage and a large garden. The total squarefoot is the same (without the extra garage space) the garden is half the size but flat and can be totally utilised. Both houses are ‘fit for purpose’ but those purposes are different.. I don’t think we can blame new builds as being ‘tiny’ and having shit gardens because it’s not always the case.

YANBU. I literally spend my whole career trying to fix this problem….

Noise, space and storage are my absolute focus!

a client of mine recently suggested building 12 properties. No parking, no gardens and no communal gardens - each property was a family home (3 bed). I told him he was selfish and to find another architect (and good luck with getting planning permission because he’ll need it!) I won’t have my name associated with shit like that!

Grrrr!

Does it not depend on the quality and price of the new build?
My son owns a new build, detached, 3 bed all en suite, smallest bed has a king size, wardrobes etc... main bedroom has a dressing room. Also a main bathroom. Downstairs is huge, on quarter of an acre. There are 4 built like this. Probably builder could only get planning for 4 houses?

Lots*

I live in a late 60s development, which is high density but cleverly done in such a way that sound rarely carries and you are never looking through someone else’s windows, with plenty of green. There is lots of clever storage built in. I think older council-built stock is often much more spacious than newer

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.

We are stuck in a 2 bed new build and would kill for a 3 bed 70s place! We have a tiny lounge dining room you can barely fit 3 of us in.

The style of house that annoys me the most are the new builds that are 2 or 3 bed but only 3.33metres wide (give or take a few cm)….

If you know, you know!

I obviously need some chocolate and need to calm down

I live in a 1950s ex council house. Rooms aren't huge but bigger than a new build council house, with same number of bedrooms, a family member moved in to last year. I have a big back garden and front garden too. Family members house has small back and no front garden. However it does have solar panels, a downstairs toilet and a small utility area which I don't. I thought it was quite well designed, except the living room size has been compromised to make way for the downstairs toilet and utility.

It would have been better if we'd stuck with the code for sustainable homes that Labour published in about 2006 I think. But 2016 I think it was, all the houses being built would have been zero carbon - think well insulated, well ventilated, orientated well, grounds source heat pumps, generating their own electricity, ... But conservatwats don't like regulation so scrapped it.

I can think of lots of reasons why our homes are small:

It’s a small country

We’d like to keep some land free from buildings

The majority of the population expect houses with gardens, rather than apartments

Young people expect to be independent from their parents early in life

@Woodlandarchitect no you’re correct there. Whilst saving for our current old a f house we rented a tiny 2 bed that was 3m wide 😂. Oh one of us could be in the kitchen at any one time. Grim.

To be honest, I think that’s a thing of the past because we’ve been looking at all sorts of houses new and old, various new build developments and anything purchased privately without any ‘scheme’ to help is adequate and some even generous.

I live in a 3 bed massive HA home. It wasn't until we moved from our tiny 2 bed flat that I realised how having such limited space had such a detrimental impact on my MH

Half our housing stock is Victorian or older. The houses are great, well built but need maintaining against a damp cold environment. Lots of people don't seem to take that into account

I paid £100k less than asking price for my house because all the windows needed replacing, an old extension needed demolishing & rebuilding, new kitchen, new boiler, complete rewire, new roof, new exterior doors. The previous owners had done as little as possible, let it deteriorate. Over the last decade I have gradually done the work. Recently I repointed the foundations to replace crumbling damp mortar and cure damp. They'd filled the outside gaps with decorators caulk!

My house is warm, spacious, well insulated and maintained, but it's taken a decade of hard work to get it there. Demolishing buildings is hugely damaging for the environment, we have to be better at maintaining what we have.

I agree, I absolutely hate new builds. We went to visit a friends and it was lovely- straight lines and very white and clean. But it was so painfully small and had absolutely no storage. It was marketed as a detached and there is honestly about 3cm between it and the neighbour. Why not just be a semi and have a bit more space inside?! Honestly it was bizarre. They had upgraded from a period terrace and despite having one more bedroom in the new build it was significantly smaller and felt cramped.

NB I would never in a million years say this to them I just said it was gorgeous. And it cost a hell of a lot of money so it wasn’t a case of all they could afford!