British housing standards (long...)

[wanttounderstand]

Wasn’t sure whether this would be better in living overseas, but I’ll try here…

Not from the UK originally, but have lived here for a long time. Looking for a property I find the standard British houses quite badly planned and some common features really annoy me. In a way it is interesting that different countries have such different preferences – I read a thread a while ago where someone posted a link to a house with a bedroom on the ground floor (in addition to a few on the first floor) and many people seemed to find that odd. In my home country it is a great bonus that not all bedrooms are next to each other, e.g. for parents, when the children are old enough to (and want to!) have more privacy.

So I’d be interested in trying to understand British priorities…

I should preface this by saying that I accept that there is less space generally in the UK, so properties are generally, in my opinion, tiny. Especially the “extra” areas seem soo small: very often there are no hallways, but you get straight into a room (the lounge e.g.). Where do you hang your jackets/leave your bags? And in winter with dirty shoes, how can anyone want to walk straight into the lounge? Sometimes if there is a hall, it is so small that even a tiny coathanger would be hard to fit. And a few times I have seen properties where there are hooks for jackets in the downstairs toilet!

(And there are no laundry rooms and very little storage – annoying, but understandable, space reasons of course!)

Taps – in the four countries I have lived, the UK is the only one where mixers, to get one flow, is not the only thing used. Why do many people insist of having two taps, often at opposite ends of the sink, so that you'll intermittently burn or freeze your hands? And why are the taps so short that you basically have to stroke the back of the sink to hold your hands in the water flow? This is almost more common than not I'd say - and in public places I reeeally do not feel an urge to stroke the sink…

Windows – apart from very modern flats and houses, the windows are often really small (and often there is a whole long lounge wall with only one small window). Why no desire to get light in? Sometimes the windows cannot be opened, but there is a tiny one at the top that is the only one that opens. (The fact that it is so much more energy efficient to open a window a lot - or, even better, lots of windows - for a short time and then closing them, instead of having a tiny one open all day, is apparently unknown!)

Double glazed windows are still a novelty in places, whereas other cold parts of the world have triple glazed windows as standard. Why feed energy companies more than necessary?

And when I search for new properties, why oh why is it not possible to search for properties based on their sizes – a 3 bed property can vary from 320 (yes, I have seen that!) to 1200 sq ft, but cleeearly don’t appeal to the same people, so it is completely pointless to use bedrooms as a search criterion…

So, tell me what you find really good or really annoying with properties, and what you have seen in other countries that you thought was strange!

I discovered living in asia that you don't need a hot tap in the kitchen - it's actually perfectly fine to wash up in cold water (admittedly, the water isn't as cold there as it is here)

I miss the extra storage from my flat in Canada (there was a whole storage level in the block), but not the way you could never use the stairs anywhere (always seemed to be locked/alarmed and you had to wait for the lift)

I prefer our toilets to any in other countries - better flush, no soup-bowl, and the doors actually obscure you from view.

I'm sure there's more things, but TBH I've found good things and bad things about everywhere and it all seems to balance out.

I thought you must be Scandinavian! Velkommen!

I have given up pondering these things, but I think despite the British being in general big fans of period homes, modernize homes have taken on a more modern and spacious feel.

So if someone puts forth a view of housing in the UK that others find critical, it's automatic to assume the poster is American, naturally, specialist

You're supposed to put the plug in the sink and mix the water that way to wash your hands.

But washing hands under running water is more hygienic, isn't it? Unless you bleach your sink after every use.

But that's not what was asked though. I (and PP) just answered the OPs question

no, but this kind of thing usually comes from America - talk of tiny houses, wondering why we don't waste energy as a matter of course, etc etc. And as the OP's 'survey' seemed to date from the 1970s I thought she/he had just read it online and never left his/her own country.

Turns out the poster isn't American though.

re cold water - I discovered in Asia that cold showers don't work quite as well even in a stinking hot climate, because of course normal soap/shower gel don't work with cold water.

no need to wash hands in running water and chuck bleach about. Put plug in, wash hands, rinse in a little water.

no wonder the planet is going to hell in a handcart.

Can someone please explain why most English windows open outwards and almost all Windows in Most European countries open inwards.
Please, please. I have been looking for an answer for years.

Well a lot of European countries have permanent shutters, so you can lock shutters but leave windows open for ventilation. In the UK too much heat/sunshine is rarely a problem.

I think a lot of the issues mentioned are to do with the British favouring small, meanly built houses rather than airy European style apartments and housing density issues. Modern housing is often designed extremely conservatively as people prefer a traditional type house and the big housebuilders aren't risk takers, they are trying to fit as much as possible onto tiny plots.

Some of the differences turn out to be specific to your region/budget, but because it's all you've seen you generalise it to the whole country. I thought all Dutch houses had doors to the side, until an estate agent told me it's just a regional thing. I don't think I've ever been in a UK house with no hallway, but I know they are quite common in places. Dutch staircases are the major thing I notice, they are steep, narrow and twisty. Apparently instead of the window tax they were taxed on the width of the house. The main thing I noticed in the US was the huge number of bathrooms, usually one per bedroom, sometimes more! That might have been regional though.

OP your post is very generalised
I have lived all round the UK and in many different types of house as well as designing some.
There are loads of bungalows in the area we live in (I was sick of being given them as an option as I like stairs) I've also lived in a few houses with bedrooms of different floors, my dad's has the living space upstairs to take advantage of the view & beds downstairs.
Our current house is very well planned and very logical, as was the last one. You can get quite quirky houses here though as the housing stock is generally old and has had many additions & alterations over the years - predominantly bathrooms and kitchens which have been added to older houses that at one time would have only had basic facilities or none at all.

Yes space standards are very different in the uk compared with say the US but not all houses are 'tiny' in fact I've only lived in one small house in my lifetime and that was a temporary property. I have also never lived nor designed a house in the uk that enters straight into a room. I know they exist but out of the 20 houses I've lived in they all have had entrance halls and most have had porches.

Approx. 2/3rds of the houses I've lived in have had utility rooms ( what we call laundry rooms)
Taps - historic reasons for 2 taps as explained further up. Mixer taps are common in refurbished houses and new houses though. I have them throughout my renovated Victorian house as we upgraded the water supply/ system.

Small Windows - ha you've obviously not been in the majority of Victorian housing stock in the UK ( the north of England is full of them)
The sash windows in this house are all at least 2.2m high, we have lovely light & bright rooms. Ours are even double glazed (timber) and lovely & warm. Triple glazing isn't really suitable for houses like these and is more suited to new build situations. This country isn't a cold country it's a moderate country so the expense is rarely justifiable.

Houses displayed by no of bedrooms - it's just the way it is. It's easy to tell though by a brief lookat properties if they are worth looking at.
Bedrooms is a good starting point - I definitely wanted at least 4 to allow for DH & I, 2 kids & a spare.
I've seen massive houses with only one or 2 bedrooms rooms that would be no good.

We moved last year and saw loads of houses. It is true there is a lot of variation in this country but that's what makes it interesting. Modern housing by mass house builders is generally the most disappointing part of uk housing stock although at least round here it's not necessarily tiny. Modern housing by smaller house builders is usually of better quality and design.