Why is housing in the U.K. so shit?

[MaryMaryVeryContrary]

I don’t even mean your ‘built for another time’ Victorian houses, I mean ones built in the last 20 years (and continue to be built).

Counterintuitive layouts, more toilets than bedrooms, strange angles, no storage whatsoever. We’re house hunting and it’s driving me mental!

I live in Barbican, and yes, it's wonderfully designed, spacious and built to last. Concrete can be a wonderful thing. Would City of London build such an estate now? Of course not. Too costly to maintain, too much unused space which given the Estate's listed status, means it will remain used, thankfully. When the architects were building the estate, they lived on site so they could get a better feel for things and change/add things as needed. Every single flat has access to a storage unit away from their residence, usually in their building's basement or car park. All flats have ample storage too - the wardrobes are especially great.

There are many other concrete estates in London that are just as well thought out - Golden Lane, Rowley Way/Alexandra & Ainsworth, Trellick Tower, Dawson's Heights, and Whittington Estate to name just a few. However, developers and councils are no longer interested in building with such thought a care.

I’m so jealous that you live in Barbican. I’ve always loved it from photos and recently had the chance to visit. So full of character, a truly great bit of modern architecture.

I'm in a 3 bed 1930s house. 2 big double bedrooms and a tiny single. Not great layout for 2 kids. I like the prettiness and big gardens though. We can walk to town, station, school etc.
My DB recently bought a newbuild it has a double bedroom and 2 good sized singles, much better Layout. But the estate is bland and the gardens tiny. It's also a car journey to get to anything.

I saw the inside of a new flat recently. Moderately sized storage cupboard. Tiny kitchen area and a living area with barely space for a sofa and a table. Two small but adequate double bedrooms.

And TWO bathrooms.
Absolute peak en-suite insanity.

@EdithStourton the flat I live in is fairly spacious but I'd happily have one less bathroom (a second toilet would gave sufficed) to have a larger bedroom or kitchen. Very arse about face building. Mind you, it is a seafront flat, so probably was built for investment or holiday living and not to actually live in.

Anyone else disappointed in housing policies in manifestos? None of them tackle the issue of the wrong accommodation type being built and that the only way to fix housing is for prices to come more in line with wages. So more regulation with valuations/estate agents is needed as they habitually over value, and more with what is actually being built and the quality of it. Valuation by square footage sounds great. I'm sure there is downsides to this, but we have a screwed generation and need to think of them.

Where do you think we will get our and animal feed from if we build over field, Uk is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe

Yep, ended by Thatcher.

We can't keep blaming someone who hasn't been in power for over 30 years! She may have started the rot, but there's been a succession of governments since who've not even begun the scratch the surface of what is actually needed re the ever worsening housing crisis.

I absolutely agree! I look at some of the beautiful buildings in London and around the world and think what kind of legacy are we leaving for our future generations when you look around and see all these boxes with no character and no storage and no thought. It’s all about speed and finance these days. It’s just so sad.

Then you get moaned at by the HA when they want to do works and there is nowhere to move stuff to.

Still muggy and close inside my flat despite todays rain and thunder.

The cost of land, and the developer's profit.

They cram as many houses as they can onto a small patch of land, and provide the bare legal minimum in terms of accommodation.

There is a new build 4 bed house in our village that hasn't sold. The 'master bedroom' is 11'1" by 11'6". It has a sloping ceiling and a dormer window along one side which makes it smaller. The next two bedrooms are smaller still and the 4th is so tiny, it will only fit a cot. But they have three loos, because of course that's really important.

It's why I buy old houses and do them up. It doesn't cost any more but my house is 2,400 sq ft rather than 1,500. My bedroom is 20' x 12'. Bedroom 2 is 15' x 12', Bedroom 3 is 14' x 12'. The smallest which we've furnished as a single, is 10' x 9'.
We have kitchen, dining room and sitting room all large enough to accommodate a family with room to spare. An airing cupboard, wardrobes, a utility room, an office. Cupboard under the stairs. It doesn't judder if someone slams a door. All the walls are brick.

My house may be old but it is comfortable, solid and spacious for me and my six foot + teen ds and his huge friends.

New builds are awful, doesn't mean all uk housing is.

SOME new builds are awful.... not all are.

SOME older houses are awful...... not all are.

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/other/my-new-build-flat-is-unbearably-hot-i-can-t-work-cook-or-sleep-in-it/ar-AA1HXq9l

https://hyphenonline.com/2024/09/09/we-feel-suffocated-hot-housing-social-uninhabitable-in-heat-summer/