To think 2m by 2m is not a bedroom

[dancefornow]

Advertised as a 3 bed house. What could you really use a 2x2 room for?

When my parents bought their current house around 10 years ago the smallest room (mine) fitted a single bed a wall mounted TV and one of those slim corner wardrobes and when they bought it they were told legally it can't be counted/marketed as the fourth bedroom because it was just under a certain square footage

Because I can’t sleep I’ve just been on rightmove scoping out the floor plans of what I consider a typical 30s style semi with box room over the stairs. I’ve found a few and they’re generally all like the below - which at 2.9 x 2.44 is a LOT bigger in square metre terms than 2x2. Close to double.

I grew up with many friends in box rooms and many friends in bunk beds in bigger rooms. I’m not of the opinion that children need loads of spaces. But 2x2 is borderline a bedroom…

Exactly this. Also it seems to be fine if your walls/ceiling/floors are so thin you can hear your neighbours

Has the OP clarified that it is exactly 2.0 x 2.0? I assumed that it was a rounded measurement.

I think the frustration is by saying "x is not a bedroom" you're saying the room my child has as a bedroom isn't a bedroom. It blatantly IS.

Just because you can afford better doesn't make my child's bedroom not a bedroom!

Whether it should be the case is another matter but its really not kind to say it *isn't a bedroom. Hence the "anger" (not really anger but what pp called it and asked why. It's not really hard to understand the frustration is it?

I do think it is sad what we accept in this country as suitable living space.
I live in a three bedroom terraced house, all three bedrooms fit a double bed and a wardrobe with desk for the kids.
I briefly had a yearning for a new build and had a look at one local to me......it was like a rabbit hutch! Definitely not a family home in my opinion.
I will stick with the space that older properties offer.

The problem is because of that acceptamce it is still being built!
My friend had early 2000's house and 3rd "bedroom" fit bed but that meant not being able to open door properly....
Mine 30s ex council has 2.75 on 2.5. Still small but the bits extra makes some difference so it fits single bed, wardrobe, desk. Would not be accepted as bedroom where I am from. A storage room.
I wouldn't buy 2x2 as bedroom.

I swear there are people on this thread who would indignantly argue that Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs was a bedroom because he slept in there and that it was entitled of him not to be absolutely delighted at enjoying his minimalist lifestyle with the convenience of having his possessions within east reach.

New builds should not be advertising 2x2m as a bedroom.

Smallest bedroom at DM's is so narrow you can't fit a single bed under the window. Every house in the street is the same (there are hundreds of these houses near where I grew up). As a pp said, cabin bed is the way to go for kids/teens and when my ds was born DM bought a slightly shorter bed to give more room when he slept over.

My biggest complaint growing up was it was a cold room, not the size. DS loved sleeping over as he could look out of the window from his bed 😂

Yes, 2.05x2.1 anyway

I think quite a few people here don't really realise how small 2x2m is

My bedroom was that size when I was a child, in a house we lived in for a couple of years. I had a high bed with storage underneath and a custom built wardrobe. It was a bedroom.

We bought 10 years ago, new build, and our 4th bed was not sold as a bedroom. It was "3 plus study" and it's 8' 9'' x 5' 8'' (2.66m x 1.73m). You can just fit a single bed and bedside table. No wardrobe due to the radiator.

That should be sold as a home office but hey, extra bedroom means the builder can whack another 30 grand on it.

Just to point out "box room" is called that because that is what they were for. Storage.

Our fourth bedroom is 1.96 by 2m which is not acceptable for a bedroom. We're borrowing space from another room to make it bigger. I agree that box rooms are too small BUT you can fit a single in ergo.... bedroom. There is something about residences online and living space for humans which suggests you need about 6m2 for a single.

I have a room like that. In the years I’ve lived here it’s been a spare (very basic) bedroom, a junk room and a craft room. It would be good as a nursery.

That should be sold as a home office but hey, extra bedroom means the builder can whack another 30 grand on it.

That's why I am fan of selling per m2 rather than number of bedrooms. New builds are often smaller than the typical 30s-40s semis/teracces around mine but have 3bedrooms and extra bathrooms etc. Yet they cost 2x, 3x as much.
I mightily confused estate agents when I wanted msq before viewings. Similar issue is popping up with living rooms. I saw so many new ones with narrow living room where you fit sofa, have 1m and then wall with tv. That is barely usable space practically.

I'm in a 1960s semi-detached. Two double bedrooms and a small third bedroom not much bigger than 2x2. At the moment small room is used by DH as a home office but if we have kids it may need to be used as a bedroom in future, I reckon we could easily get a single bed and small set of drawers/wardrobe in there. Not everyone can afford big houses so families need to adapt

I've read 4 point something for a child under 10. So if a family is looking for a house they can afford then a bit over 2 x 2 for the smallest would do as a nursery or for a young child. Mine is just under 5m2 and I use it as a spare room, so a single guest needn't be on the sofa. It is usable space, just a bit too small for an adult sized person to live in long term.

Are you my old geography teacher? Our homework - back in 1971 - was to draw a diagram to scale of our bedroom. Mine was the length of my single bed plus a foot at the end and the width of the bed and the door. I got 2/10 and a comment that my bedroom couldn't possibly be that small 😡.

Im not a fan of a drive to advertise houses with sq mtrs or sq foot because it tells you nothing about how you can utilise that space.

BTW you can blame Thatcher for the very small bedrooms built today. Regulations in 1961 ( I think) were altered to be more generous in terms of size of homes. Thatcher decided that those regs prevented free enterprise and had them abolished, meaning that while homes in other countries are built to a more generous standard we now have some of the smallest houses in Europe and pay a fortune for the privilege.

Yes, one large bedroom where the floor space is equal to two small double bedrooms is not the same as actually having two rooms. The number of bedrooms and whether they will fit a single or double (or more than one) bed is important.

There are millions of houses in the UK with the boxroom over the hallway layout. In our house it's 2x2.3 m and teen DS bedroom. There's room for a cabin bed and small desk.

If you've never come across this before fair enough but it's not exactly unusual.

I think it encourages the current trend for the ground floor of modern new builds being virtually one big room, kitchen/diner/lounge with no separate spaces. LIke a massive bed sit or something. With the ubiquitous toilet of course taking up room