Sick of crap house layouts

[Naptrappedmummy]

A moan thread but probably deserves to be on AIBU…

Looking to buy, 2 kids (boy/girl) so need 3 bedrooms. Every single house without fail either has 2 bedrooms plus a room so tiny you can’t fit a bed and wardrobe comfortably in it, or they’re 4 beds and slightly out of our price range.

Add to that rubbish uphill tiered gardens where you’ll trip and nearly break your neck every 5 minutes, a lack of storage in almost every house (no utility rooms, cupboards, pantries or porches), and just absurd layouts in general which make no use of the space they have and are completely counterintuitive.

All I want is an actual 3 bed with some storage, an ordinary downstairs layout and a flat garden capable of holding a swing and some chairs. Why can’t I have it????

This is exactly why we are staying put in our 2 bed for now. I can't find any 3 bed houses with 3 decent size rooms and the downstairs space is just as small as our 2 bed.

With a 4 bed you get much more downstairs space plus proper bedrooms.

We do have the option to extend up and out but our secondary school catchments aren't great.

The only other option is to buy a small three bed and spend to extend/amend layout. Might be the better option as you'll get exactly what you want?

You don't have to lose the 3rd 'bedroom' to the stairs, both my friends that had this done had the stairs above where the original stairs were.

Are you sure about that? I think we have smaller houses than average but not heard that the build quality of newly built homes is the worst in Europe, have you got a link?

Yes, this is what we did. We didn't have to sacrifice the 3rd bedroom.

I agree op. It's ridiculous. Just so nonsensical. How much better to have 3 decent size bedrooms as a standard.
Homes in this country are so stupid and small for the masses.

Post war excouncil! 3 double bedrooms, driveway, large garden, loads of storage. Ugly as sin though.

We found similar and that was ten years ago so it was all more affordable than it is now. We ended up with a 1970 terrace, not beautiful from the outside but the third bedroom does fit a double bed, albeit sideways under the window wall to wall. All the other ones had tiny 6ft x 7ft “nurseries”.
We’ve now converted the loft as well and only lost a cupboard off the smaller third bedroom. It’s lovely. On street parking but nowhere near as challenging as the last place we lived for on street parking so that was one compromise we had to make.

I sympathise OP. I also find more expensive properties lack proper storage. In other countries having built in wardrobes, a linen cupboard and a cupboard for an ironing board a vacuum cleaner is standard even in small and inexpensive properties. The developers in the UK are greedy and get away with too much!

I am in a new-ish build. I think the quality is OK but they failed on some things.

i) Not enough light in the hall. Common in semis, but judicious placement of an extra window in the front would have made all the difference.

ii) drive barely large width wise enough for 2 cars but can be extended. Should have done this from the start.

iii) Insulation very poor on the front of the house leading to significant heat leak.

iv) No mirrors over the sinks in ensuite and bathroom possible because they are placed against windows.

v) House is set too far back from the road. Could have had more room in the back garden and less space at the front making house worth more.

vi) Pipework in many places concealed and difficult to access making maintenance nightmare (common to most newish builds I think).

vii) No understairs cupbaord by default ? Why ? This is potentially valuable storage space.

I ended up with a three story new build. It’s a barratt kingsville. Two double bedrooms and a generous single which could take a double against the wall. Only way to avoid a tiny third room where I am. That said two bedrooms don’t have full height ceilings so it’s all compromise

I was shocked when we viewed our 1930's home, the two main bedrooms have actual cedar lined closets, these two join up with a 3rd in the adjoining hallway that's an airing cupboard. All of this is the space over the entranceway below it - Genius! They're small but really useful spaces. Homes are so expensive now.

I know exactly what you mean OP. When house hunting (about 1.5 years ago) I was looking for a 3 bed, and it would always start out ok (ground floor decent size, one bedroom good size, one bedroom ok size) and then we'd come to the third bedroom and no space to swing a cat?! Hugely disappointing so many times. Even looked at a new build (couple of years old) in my desperation, but the downstairs was so small, you wouldn't have been able to squeeze two people in the kitchen at a time! And zero storage.
Ended up buying much larger than anticipated- ex HMO, 4 double bedrooms and converted garage which is now the gaming room plus utility room. Of course it was in a shit condition and I used up almost all my savings on the required modernisation, but was happy to pay that price in return for so much floor space! Which I'd never been able to afford otherwise. Will also add, my house has a lovely square shaped living room, which I like so much better than the usual "sock shape" (long and narrow).

New modern houses have hardly any storage, its a nightmare.
Some of the retirement villages, where the two bedroom apartments are upwards of 350K have a tiny little broom cupboard and that's it. The one I worked on actually dedicated a room to hold peoples empty suitcases as they took up too much room. It was unbelievable.

Can we add shitty three storey new builds to the bonfire of crappy housing? Inadequate kitchen diner on the ground floor, weird second floor that has both a living room and a bedroom, alongside family bath, then 2 extra rooms shoehorned into the attic.

I cannot get onboard with a town house. The footprint is so small. Too many stairs. Who actually would use the living room upstairs? So much wasted space. I also would hate downstairs bedrooms. Just why?

2 floors for us all the way!

ps our new build has TONNES of storage so I do think they exist but different builder prioritise different things.

Where we live there are lots of the semi-detached, 3 bed houses where the third bedroom is tiny. Layout all similar - hallway with stair case. Front room. Then to the back with a kitchen and dining room. Upstairs two good sized bedrooms, family bathroom and a box room.

All built somewhere between about 1945-1975.

I think the idea was probably that the children shared and/or one had the box room? We bought ours as a "starter" house - but 15 years later, we're still here! We were able to do a large loft conversion but the box room is now even smaller and can't be used as a bedroom at all - whereas before it could, albeit a small one.

Others have been able to do extensions to the back (we could do that but probalby only single story because of the way our house is positioned) and, not in our exact area, but more broadly in the area, lots of people have done side extensions - single or double story. But even when just single story they land up with a utility/downstairs toilet and an additional bedroom/study/tv room.

I thought this too. We have a new build and the doors are all 90cm rather than 75cm, then massive downstairs loo and also back door to garden is completely flat. I always thought it was to accommodate disabled people.

This is a big problem in the U.K. and I think it will only get worse, because the whole drive to increase “affordable” housing means that developers are being incentivised to build very small homes without any thought being given to how people in those homes are supposed to live.

it is of course perfectly possible to have small homes that are fit for purpose but some thought needs to go into their design - bedrooms big enough for beds and storage, a dining area, a utility area to wash and dry clothes and store some household items, etc.

The big downstairs loo issue- isn’t that an accessibility requirement now that all ‘main floors’ have a loo that is suitable for a wheelchair. So they are much bigger.

There are some awkward houses but I guess with older properties, they suited house usage at the time.

I love my house but it has its issues. 110 year old ish terrace. The bathroom and kitchen are extensions-the bathroom is larger than my spare bedroom! Can just about fit a double in the spare bedroom but that's about it. I use it as my office now and have converted the cellar into a spare room.

My bedroom is a good size-but the kitchen is tiny. I love cooking but then at least everything is close together I suppose. My parent's kitchen is HUGE but layout means there's nowhere to really put anything down, very little worktop space compared to the size of the room. Again as a PP mentioned, huge dogs like I have and a sitting room that opens straight into the garden aren't ideal. I've just got used to mud/straw/mess now.

@Naptrappedmummy yes is frustrating but at least you get what you want.
We are in a SD but when we eventually upgrade it will probably be more difficult given we live in London, finding a detached house of more space (current sq footage is hard to come by),still tube accessible etc so feel your pain. Good luck

It is. It's to make the house Part M compliant (which is accessibility). It's why the light switches are quite low on the walls too.

Yep- I know what you mean- we rent a great house at the moment, beautifully done up, stone semi, late Victorian, kind of double fronted , parking, 3 good beds, built in wardrobes, 2 bathrooms plus downstairs loo , storage and a lovely flat good sized not overlooked garden- plus garage converted to a great office/studio - I know we won't find anything like it ever again that's remotely affordable .

Look at garden flats and ground floor maisonettes pre-1970s. Unfortunately if you want to buy in a hilly area tiered gardens may be your only option though.

They are hard to find. I needed a very flat garden due to mobility issues and easy drive to get into the house from the car without any steps etc. So ruled out old terraces that I love as no parking and nearly all the new builds we looked at.

We bought 5 years ago and have a flat garden, double drive, garage and 3 decent sized bedrooms. But we had to compromise on a very small kitchen with no kitchen door to the garden (was a requirement of mine due to my mobility), no storage and small garden.

Our house is 20 years old and some of those aged estates have a few dotted around on them. Try looking on some of those. The new builds near us were out of our price range, no garage or drive and too small inside.