Single aspect flats

[Lily7050]

Has anyone have experience living in single aspect flats facing north?

Researching internet I found www.london.gov.uk/shaping-london/london-plan/docs/housing-design-standards-evidence-summary.pdf
and
www.singleaspect.org.uk/

If single aspect is not recommended why a lots of new build even expensive ones like Chelsea Creek or One Tower Bridge still have single aspect north facing flats?

Examples: www.berkeleygroup.co.uk/plot?developmentID=145&propertyID=13ca94ba-85af-42c6-bcba-49a2ce5194ef

In fact most of 1-bedroom and even some 2-bedroom flats are single aspect.
I enjoy light but cannot stand heat. So I thought north facing flat would be more comfortable for me.
The flat I reserved is on 2nd floor. Similar flat on first floor has already been exchanged as I can judge from the website but the building is still in the process of construction so I cannot view the flat yet.

I've never heard of this before but you're right - most flats are single aspect. Had never occurred to me that they shouldn't be, although I am conscious of which way they face - North, South, whatever.

Surely to have double or triple aspect flats then blocks would have to be small and slim? With space at a premium I guess this just isn't possible?

Being deprived of a choice of rooms to suit light at different times of day, to allow a through draught through the dwelling, and simply a choice of views, are major disadvantages of living in single aspect flats. They also tend to overheat owing to poor ventiation and the inability to change the air without leaving the entrance door open, less than ideal, especially with small children surely (I'm not a parent myself).

From my observations the more you pay for a flat in London the worse the design gets and the ones £1m and above are the worst of all. The only thing that improves is the quality of the finishes. Perhaps the high net worth individuals who buy them don't care because they don't spend much time in them.

The definitive guidance is given in the Interim London Housing Design Guide, a brief look here www.singleaspect.org.uk/?p=3747

I'm not going to quote great chunks of my blog here and you wouldn't want me to but I do have a lot say about the disadvantages of single aspect flats in many linked articles on my blog and if you have any direct questions here I will try to answer them or you are welcome to write directly to me at [email protected]

I rented a single aspect flat years ago. It was horribly hot, hard to get air circulating. I since purchased a Victorian conversion flat with 3 aspects and it was a dream in comparison. Easy to get fresh air circulating, light streaming into different rooms throughout the day, and a great feeling of being in a bright flat.

I now live in a house where many rooms are dual aspect and could never revert back to my single facing days. I'd miss all the daylight!!!

I had a look at your blog.

I don't see what options there are though? We have a chronic housing shortage, and limited space.

And I don't mean that dismissively - I genuinely don't know what the option is?

I'm looking at buying a new build flat, and they are all mostly single aspect. Some have access doors to the side. Unless you're on a corner or its a small block it's always going to be single aspect.

I can only suggest you look at an ex Local Authority flat, much as I detest right to buy in all its manifestations, it will most likely be dual aspect and have large rooms.

I cannot identify the year when flats stopped being built dual aspect but suspect it began after Mrs T deregulated the Parker Morris standards in the Housing Act of 1980.

I can't agree with your comment on aspect and size of block. It's the internal layout that determines whether flats are single aspect or not, not the size of the block.

This is simply developers wanting to save money and squeeze in an extra flat or two instead of providing the additional staircases and lifts that would enable the block to have 100% dual aspect flats.

Take a look around London at blocks of flats and those built before the late 1970s will be largely dual aspect (and many local authority of course) and the further back you go almost entirely dual aspect.

If anybody reading this thread lives in Woods House Pimlico or a similar block I would be interested in talking to you for a future article about your experience of living in a single aspect flat and its advantages, or otherwise. [email protected]

Thanks. Sadly I don't have half a mil to spend on an older flat so looking at shared ownership etc

@Lily7050 In answer to your question I think that once you have considered all the potential disadvantages I've outlined above and as are outlined in the LHDG then it becomes a personal thing as whether you mind not being able to see the sun for half the day, and whether or not you mind being deprived of a range of views. No doubt the flat you've got your eye on will have efficient mechanical ventilation and opening windows for what breeze you can get but for that amount of money . . . I'd buy somewhere else entirely but as I say, it's personal. So long as you have stopped to think about all the possible disadvantages then you won't regret the purchase.

@singleaspect are there any good examples of high profile and high value flats developed since 2007/8 which aren't single aspect? This thread had me thinking last night about the various new builds I've dealt with for work and I can only remember one example of a dual aspect design in flats for > 1million.

OP does the flat you're looking at have district heating?

There can be issues with the pipework for this leading to communal corridors getting overheated. Most developers are now aware and learning from design mistakes made in the past, but might be worth researching.

@MrsBertMacklin I cannot answer your question because I do not follow each and every development in London, I only note the ones that come by way by serendipity. Riverlight by Rogers was highlighted to me by James Perry on Twitter as being awful and S/A but again, expensive, and by the river. One Hyde Park doesn't look great from the plans I've seen, despite the cost. Mount Anvil / Eagle / City Road I was alerted to by a TV programme and looking at the Farrell brochure they're all > £1m and S/A.

I would be delighted to see plans for a > £1m flat that is not single aspect, it would appear the more you pay the poorer the design and the more expensive the internal finishes plus concierge and gym etc but design suffers.

@MrsBertMacklin You comment raises an interesting point wrt Woods House which is overheated and S/A and "may" be on the Pimlico d/h scheme as is Lillington Gardens.

The only pipework issues I know of with d/h is the pressure which is 6 or 7 bar i.e. quite high and need a special boiler but I'm getting off the point.

Many thanks to everybody for comments. They made me think and look at designs of other developments.
I am surprised that LHDG standards are not compulsory and builders get approvals for sub-standard designs. A lot of new build flats in more central areas of London are smaller in sizes that the LHDG recommends.
I guess I will have to settle for some compromise.

@MrsBertMcklin, re. district heating, the development specification says the flat will have "Setbuck A rated gas fired combination boiler with wet radiator system. Myson premier radiators with two zone programmable zone heating. Mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery".
I am not a builder or architect so assume it is not district heating.
Would you recommend to clarify with the builder?

@Lily7050 Given your price range have you considered the Barbican? Some are single aspect but most are not and you have a wide choice of outlooks.

@SingleAspect: sorry, if I confused you and other people. I am looking at flats under £300K in a more or less safe area commutable to London Bridge.
When I found the LHDG I was curious to see if expensive places meet the requirements, and was surprised that they do not.

Oh! I thought you were a millionaire. Never mind. You have identified the thing that puzzles me most when looking at new London flats for my blog. Why is it that the more money people have to spend, the worse is the design of the flats? I would have thought that people with more money have more sense. Apparently not. It's all kitchen and bathroom finishes, concierge, secure parking and the gym. Under £300k in London it will surely be on the outskirts and probably ex-Local Authority which isn't necessarily a bad thing in terms of design.