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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is this size house average or small?

83 replies

Deetream · 09/11/2024 07:33

1,600 square feet?

the rooms seems small but it has three bathrooms and utility etc. but perhaps small in terms of square feet?

OP posts:
Iceache · 09/11/2024 19:36

Isitfridayyetsophie · 09/11/2024 19:32

Are you sure it’s 15,000 square feet? I’d say that’s relatively rare in England, I’d expect more than 2 bathrooms in a house that size!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146376653#/?channel=RES_BUY this 8 bedroom house is 15000 square feet, over 4 floors, has a pool and is described as a mansion!

Honestly I dunno. Like my google calculator tells me yes so my maths is right but I’m wondering if the rightmove advert to my house was in the wrong units of measurement. I’m utterly lost so bowing out now!

Isitfridayyetsophie · 09/11/2024 19:46

Iceache · 09/11/2024 19:36

Honestly I dunno. Like my google calculator tells me yes so my maths is right but I’m wondering if the rightmove advert to my house was in the wrong units of measurement. I’m utterly lost so bowing out now!

15000square feet is really a massive house, you can compare floor plans to that rightmove listing to see how yours compares. The estate agent usually uses both measurements but maybe they’ve got them confused.

Anyway, I’ve learned the average house is 94square metres which is roughly 1011 square feet- this surprises me! (Edit- sorry, I should say average dwelling, so I suppose takes into accounts flats, too!)

MuddlingThrough1724 · 09/11/2024 20:19

Iceache · 09/11/2024 19:23

Do you mean square metres?! Because now I’m totally lost because 1600 square foot is like a tenth of the size of my house so I can’t fathom how you fit in 4 bedrooms and all those rooms downstairs 🤣 I’m so confused by this thread 🤣

No, definitely feet, 1600 sq metres would be absolutely enormous! Like mega mansion enormous! Our large ish 4 bed is 150 sq metres/1600 sq ft.

LonelyInDville · 09/11/2024 20:27

My house is 1800 sq ft and it’s average sized. It’s 4 bedrooms but one if the rooms is small and would only work for a nursery/office.

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 09/11/2024 20:42

Iceache · 09/11/2024 19:20

Ok so my response was thinking it was 1600 sm rather than foot. I accept that 1600 sf is pretty tiny for a family!! My house is 1400 sm which equates as around 15,069 square foot according to Google so yes - my outrage at your response was wrong!

I still think everyone is conflating the two measurements and now I’m totally lost 🤣

I can’t see - no matter what country we’re in - 2 bathrooms for a family of four being a lack of comfort! Does everyone really need their own bathroom? We have one upstairs and one downstairs and quite a lot of space and honestly our house feels big!!

Are you sure those measurements are correct? 15k square feet is massive, I mean like mansion massive, so I would be incredibly surprised if it only had 2 bathrooms. Houses that size have 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms...

I grew up with everyone having their own bathroom, so not having that for me would feel quite uncomfortable. I suppose that is an incredibly privileged response but it is what it is.

amoreoamicizia · 09/11/2024 21:05

Am I the only one who thinks in square m? I can't picture square feet at all. I blame having lived abroad.

FaceLikeACrackedScreen · 09/11/2024 21:08

My house is just bigger than that OP, big for two, fine when the three of us are here.

GiveusatwirlAnthea · 10/11/2024 01:05

Iceache · 09/11/2024 19:36

Honestly I dunno. Like my google calculator tells me yes so my maths is right but I’m wondering if the rightmove advert to my house was in the wrong units of measurement. I’m utterly lost so bowing out now!

Are you Fergie and you live at Royal Lodge? That’s royal residence size.

pinotgrigeeeeo · 10/11/2024 09:20

Iceache · 09/11/2024 16:05

I can’t edit my post but I see it’s 1600 square feet!! We measure in square m in the UK so my post is moot. I wonder if others are getting confused too! I’ve just had to calculate square m to square feet and I’m not sure if the OP meant metres instead? 1600 sm is large where as 1600 sf is very small - even by UK standards!

I don't think so.

I'm in the UK so yes m2. My house is 155m2, so 1668 ft sq, so just a tiny bit bigger than the OP's 1600.

My house could not be described as small by UK standards.

It's a detached dormer bungalow with large rooms - large hallway, two very large reception rooms, decent sized kitchen, one very large bedroom downstairs, another decent sized double, and a large bathroom with oversized bath plus walk in shower.

Upstairs two good sized double bedrooms, a box room, and a decent sized bathroom.

We sacrificed on a couple of other factors in order to get the space as it was very much one of the larger properties available (we viewed loads).

I'd say 1600 sq ft is above average for a UK house. Although as others have said, if it has lots of en-suites etc shoehorned in it could feel small.

A house of 1600 square metres would be absolutely enormous.

Iceache · 10/11/2024 11:48

Honestly I think any house with 3/4 bedrooms cannot possibly be ‘small’ for an average sized family. Where I live, you’re looking at nearly a million for a four bed detached and over 500k for a large semi detached. New builds are generally smaller in terms of square footage but tend to have four bedrooms or more bathrooms. I have no experience of property in other countries, but my house feels big for four of us (1400 sf) so anyone saying this sort of size is ‘too small’ is on the wind up I think.

Glittertwins · 10/11/2024 12:30

Ours was 1250 square feet with 3 good size bedrooms before we did the loft conversion. Downstairs is too small in my opinion however we're used to it now.

TheDefiant · 10/11/2024 13:41

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 09/11/2024 15:19

It's small and not suitable for a family but seems to be the norm in the UK.

My 3 bed semi detached is 75 square metres. We have 2 double bedrooms and a single (with smart planning we'll get a double bed in there too though!)

We have 1 bathroom.

We've managed perfectly well as a family of 4 (2 parents, 2 DC).

In our cul-de-sac our model of house built 1988 was the biggest model!

There's a family with 3 DC in a smaller house.

Perhaps your post should say "not what I consider suitable..."

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 10/11/2024 14:05

TheDefiant · 10/11/2024 13:41

My 3 bed semi detached is 75 square metres. We have 2 double bedrooms and a single (with smart planning we'll get a double bed in there too though!)

We have 1 bathroom.

We've managed perfectly well as a family of 4 (2 parents, 2 DC).

In our cul-de-sac our model of house built 1988 was the biggest model!

There's a family with 3 DC in a smaller house.

Perhaps your post should say "not what I consider suitable..."

OK, its not what I consider suitable and I would never try to manage with something so small. But as I said previously, people in the UK have just gotten so used to shitty, unfunctional housing that people just make do with something most people would consider unsuitable.

The housing here is, well, horrendous.

GiveusatwirlAnthea · 10/11/2024 14:14

The housing here is, well, horrendous.

It really isn’t, you are more than welcome to your hideous built of paper faux McMansions.

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 10/11/2024 17:20

GiveusatwirlAnthea · 10/11/2024 14:14

The housing here is, well, horrendous.

It really isn’t, you are more than welcome to your hideous built of paper faux McMansions.

Lol, I didn't grew up here, I grew up with much nicer houses of much better quality but whatever you have to say to make yourself feel better. Me saying houses in the UK are horrible is nothing new, most people complain about the houses here, they are hideous and not fit for purpose.

GiveusatwirlAnthea · 10/11/2024 17:32

Yet here you are apparently, sorry you can’t afford a nice house in the UK that must be awful for you living in substandard accommodation.

Iceache · 10/11/2024 22:27

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 10/11/2024 14:05

OK, its not what I consider suitable and I would never try to manage with something so small. But as I said previously, people in the UK have just gotten so used to shitty, unfunctional housing that people just make do with something most people would consider unsuitable.

The housing here is, well, horrendous.

Edited

I think you must live in terrible housing! Mine is a beautiful, well-sized period house with plenty of space for my whole family. Everyone has their own space as and when they need it. A lot of the UK’s older housing is solid and well built; our house is beautifully crafted with tiny details everywhere you wouldn’t find in a newer home. I’m not sure what this ‘norm’ is that you’re referring to as acceptable as even in US / Canadian films, they don’t have tons more space than we do - more land maybe, but not huge, sprawling houses whilst we’re packed into unliveable boxes… We are fairly privileged but a lot of council housing (traditional) is well-sized too so honestly I think you’re either bitter about your own circumstances and projecting, or trying to wind everyone up

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 10/11/2024 23:18

Iceache · 10/11/2024 22:27

I think you must live in terrible housing! Mine is a beautiful, well-sized period house with plenty of space for my whole family. Everyone has their own space as and when they need it. A lot of the UK’s older housing is solid and well built; our house is beautifully crafted with tiny details everywhere you wouldn’t find in a newer home. I’m not sure what this ‘norm’ is that you’re referring to as acceptable as even in US / Canadian films, they don’t have tons more space than we do - more land maybe, but not huge, sprawling houses whilst we’re packed into unliveable boxes… We are fairly privileged but a lot of council housing (traditional) is well-sized too so honestly I think you’re either bitter about your own circumstances and projecting, or trying to wind everyone up

I'm from the US so I know for sure that the housing is much nicer and much bigger and I'm not basing that on films and movies as if that is an accurate description. We currently rent a very shitty, typical UK house and have been looking at houses to buy. And yes, the houses are dog shit and that's in the 2 million plus pound range. I'm not bitter, we both make very good money and have a very large amount of money in the bank so dont feel too sorry for me, we can easily just move somewhere else. I just know we want something better than the shit here, period or otherwise. Anyway, enjoy trying to justify your poor standard of living, you really showed me!

Labraradabrador · 10/11/2024 23:37

Iceache · 09/11/2024 15:31

Small and not suitable for a family?! My house is 1,400 sm and is a fairly large property (huge hallway, two large reception rooms, 1 smaller dining room, decent-sized kitchen, decent-sized bathroom - double walk in shower and separate bath - two huge bedrooms and one smaller double bedroom). I’m not actually sure if you’re for real with this comment?! Our house is larger than average for our area (I live on a road with a mixture of semi and detached and all are a similar size on our side but elsewhere houses are smaller), but we came from a house just over 1,000 sm and managed fine as a family of four in that!

Edited

It depends what you are used to - my mother was commenting on brother’s bedrooms (different country) as being small and only suitable for children. They were bigger than a standard uk double room - bigger than many master bedrooms in new builds! In my home country bedrooms only count if they have built in storage (usually built in closets) so uk bedrooms are both smaller and have to accommodate more furniture.

Labraradabrador · 10/11/2024 23:56

Iceache · 10/11/2024 22:27

I think you must live in terrible housing! Mine is a beautiful, well-sized period house with plenty of space for my whole family. Everyone has their own space as and when they need it. A lot of the UK’s older housing is solid and well built; our house is beautifully crafted with tiny details everywhere you wouldn’t find in a newer home. I’m not sure what this ‘norm’ is that you’re referring to as acceptable as even in US / Canadian films, they don’t have tons more space than we do - more land maybe, but not huge, sprawling houses whilst we’re packed into unliveable boxes… We are fairly privileged but a lot of council housing (traditional) is well-sized too so honestly I think you’re either bitter about your own circumstances and projecting, or trying to wind everyone up

You might want to look more closely at the floor plans of us homes. My mom’s 3 bed has similar square footage to my uk 6 bed (4,000 sqft). She is under the impression that I live in a mansion because all she sees is ‘6 bedrooms’ but those bedrooms are half as big and have none of the extensive built in storage that she has.

the average home size in the us is 2,500 sqft vs and average of 1,000sqft in the uk, so more than double. Obviously people manage, but I know where I would rather live. Those us homes also don’t tend to suffer from poor insulation, damp, mould that seem to be inescapable in the uk. Uk housing stock is really poor - I have lived in about a dozen countries and the uk has been the worst general standard.

GiveusatwirlAnthea · 11/11/2024 00:35

AnotherChildFreeCatLady · 10/11/2024 23:18

I'm from the US so I know for sure that the housing is much nicer and much bigger and I'm not basing that on films and movies as if that is an accurate description. We currently rent a very shitty, typical UK house and have been looking at houses to buy. And yes, the houses are dog shit and that's in the 2 million plus pound range. I'm not bitter, we both make very good money and have a very large amount of money in the bank so dont feel too sorry for me, we can easily just move somewhere else. I just know we want something better than the shit here, period or otherwise. Anyway, enjoy trying to justify your poor standard of living, you really showed me!

Yes of course you earn very good money and and no doubt at all you have a very large amount of money in the bank, and of course you are looking at 2 million pound plus properties and it’s utterly tragic all these multi million pound UK houses you have viewed are all dog shit. You are so blessed you can easily move somewhere else but admirably you stay put living in a pile of dog shit of a house in the UK despite all your money and the world being your oyster. You should look on rightmove at this area, it sounds right up your street!

Is this size house average or small?
GulfCoast · 11/11/2024 03:45

1600 square feet and 4 bedrooms? Jesus Christ how small are the rooms? Our house is 2800 square feet and three bedrooms. That’s about normal here in Florida. I can’t imagine living in a house with rooms so small.

Iceache · 11/11/2024 09:16

Can I just ask how big you all are? Because we’re about average-sized and honestly none of us struggle to fit in any of our rooms; in fact we have ample space for super king beds, large couches, separate dining areas etc. Unless I was 3 x the width and twice the height I currently am (so 15 foot and 30 stone), I can’t imagine struggling with the space in my house. I’m not saying US homes aren’t larger on average (you have more land - it makes sense), but to say all multimillion pound homes right across the UK are ‘dogshit’ is pure hyperbole @AnotherChildFreeCatLady .

But of course, without those fantastical millions in my bank account, and a rightmove search area encompassing all kinds of imaginary places, what do I know

Rewis · 11/11/2024 09:20

Based on sq2 that is a large house. Average house in UK is 828 sq2