Minimum sizes of a single bedroom and a double bedroom...

[Hooliesmoolies]

So, what would you think is the minimum size you need to be able to call something

a) A single bedroom

b) A double bedroom

This would be for selling rather than renting. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any legal minimums, although there are some sizes for people who are living in a shared house...

I would think that if you can fit a single bed in it, with enough room to walk around 2 sides of the bed (2 foot clearance), it can be a single bedroom (I think legally it must have a window and a minimum ceiling height to count, and if higher than the 1st floor then will have to comply with building-regs fire escape rules too) so 5footx8foot could count. I lived in a single bedroom this size for a year when I was at Uni. To be a double bedroom you would need to be able to fit a double bed in it and be able to walk around 3 sides so 9footx8foot minimum.

When we were house hunting, we viewed one house which was advertised and priced as being "3 bedroom". It was a 2 bedroom house but the vendors had put a double bed into a downstairs reception room (and put a sofa into the kitchen-diner to make that an all-purpose living room). We didn't buy it.

I was wondering because all the houses round here are three bedroom. But the third bedroom is generally round about 7 foot x 7 foot (ish), or 6 foot x 8 foot type thing.

We are getting our loft converted, and I want to steal 20 cm from our small third bedroom (it would make it 2.29 x 2.2 m), and so I was looking to see what the regulations were. You can get a single bed in with a wardrobe and a bedside table, and I know plenty of people who use them as childrens bedrooms.

I think it 'should' be fine, but I'm just wondering how it compares to other small third/fourth/fifth bedrooms!

The good news is that our bedrooms in the loft will fall comfortably into the double category I think!

Like above our 3rd bedroom is technically a single and it's 8 foot by 6 foot. The actual floor space is 6 foot square with a stairwell. Small but technically a single bed would just fit.

I wouldn't expect to be able to walk round both sides of a single bed so ideally a single room would be at least 8 foot square. Our smaller double bedroom is 10 foot square and it works ok.

There is no legal minimum but there lots of practical guidelines. Neither a single or a double bedroom should only be able to hold a bed with walking distance around it. A double room should be able to hold a double wardrobe as well at a minimum and general guidelines would also have it be able to include a dresser or dressing table. Most sources suggest 110 to 120 sqm as the practical minimum size for a double including the Royal Institute of Charterd Surveyors and various council housing guidelines.

A single bedroom needs to be between 70 sft and 90sft depending on its shape according to most sources to be used by an adult.

www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/existing-homes/extending/20-things-you-need-know-extending-your-home
www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAHoldings/PolicyAndInternationalRelations/HomeWise/CaseforSpace.pdf
www.canterbury.gov.uk/housing/houses-in-multiple-occupation/minimum-room-sizes/

Anything much smaller than these guidelines is really only a nursery or a study and I think buyers know that.

When we sold our first house, one viewer had kids and wanted to check that one of the bedrooms could fit a single bed. It couldn't. We hadn't noticed when we bought it and I don't think any of the other viewers were bothered. It was one of many identical houses on an estate, so it must be fairly common. I think it is usually used as an office or for a toddler.

None of the third bedrooms round here are 70 sq feet, but the houses are still sold as three bedrooms. I guess it partly depends on the area you are in.

I can see the logic of those guidelines, but I think those regs are for multiple occupancy houses, so for example if you are trying to rent out a room as a single room in a shared house. I think in the same way, when they talk about a double they are talking about the size it would need to be for two people to live comfortably in it. But in domestic house sales, it is perhaps not the same thing?

Really, I just don't want to reduce the value of my house.

Yes, a double is for two people to share so really only one bedroom in a house needs to be doubled if you are a couple and if you have a 2nd double bedroom then your kids can definitely share it.

I absolutely don't think a single bed with basic furniture can fit in a room smaller than 70sqft though. Anything smaller really isn't a functional bedroom for anything more than a toddler.

There are rules in terms of under/over occupancy though. It's something like up to 10 yrs old 70sq ft, older than that, the room needs to be bigger as a single room. The same guidelines apply if you're trying to adopt or foster and need to ensure you have a big enough room for them. I would say anything 50 to 70sq ft you need to say is a child's bedroom. It's actually really offputting when someone advertises a house as having a double room which is too small in practice or as having a 3rd bedroom which is really suitable only as a nursery/study.

Here you go m.england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/common_problems/overcrowding