Why are new builds so small?

[Ilkleymoor]

Trying to find a rental property in a popular area. Tried a couple of new builds - cannot believe how small they are! 3 beds that seem to have the floor space of a larger one bed flat!

Are we just not supposed to have any possessions or need for personal space?

Profit maximisation

Because land is so expensive ao developers have to get as many properties on a plot as possible and its all about how many bedrooms they can squeeze in.

If you need space you need to go for older properties build before the 90s

Or go for a better quality newbuild with a larger footprint.
Not all newbuilds are the same.

Partially because we don't include the square footage as standard. I noticed watching the French Netflix property show that every property was X metre squared and that I'd never seen the equivalent on zoopla / rightmove.

Pre 90s is helpful, thanks.

But how does anyone fit in? Saw one last week where the box room could barely fit a crib, the second bedroom just about a single bed and a child who didn't like possessions and a main bedroom where you couldn't have a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. This is not an exaggeration.

Yes true that there are bigger and better newbuilds just not for rent in this area. We are pricing around the top.of the rent and they are still tiny. Just shocked me.

Can't really make this generalisation about new builds any more than you can can about older houses. Some are big and some are small. If your budget is lower, you're likely to be looking at the smaller ones.

Greed

You can find the square meterage of any property with a current EPC certificate by looking it up on the government website. A slightly long way around but possible for a property you are interested in - around here estate agents sometimes purposefully put the measurements up late to miss the initial flurry of interest if they think people would be put off by small proportions.

It’s ridiculous. We’ve looked at several and they call have tiny proportions. Three beds with the third room that isn’t even long enough to fit a single bed was a highlight!

Apologies, my post above was in response to this!

*all

I bought a 3 bed in 1997 and there is no way it can house more than 2 adults and 1 child.

The downstairs is not too bad but the bedrooms are so small.

If you want a large modern house you really have to go for a 3 storey house.

It's because the government has no backbone and the developers walk all over the various councils with their maximising profit model: more small homes crammed into spaces for more money.

You'll note that any new social/council homes are actually bigger ... because they're required to meet minimum room size standards, unlike 'private' new build homes.

Shocking.

Actually I think I can make a generalisation about newbuilds where they make it a three bed and the third room isn't usable even for a bonsai baby. The older two beds have larger bedrooms. Even a box room would fit a single bed. Unfortunately we really need the third (functioning) room so will have to keep looking. Just not bothering with any of the well photographed new build in this particular area anymore.

Because people want 3 or 4 bed properties instead of 2 bed, cause they don’t want their kids to have to share bedrooms and want a home office space. Basically the same footprint now has 4 bedrooms squished in instead of 2 bedrooms. I’m fortunate to live in a house that’s over 100 years old the rooms are huge. 2 of my 3 bedrooms could easily be split into 2 bedrooms each and still be bigger than some new build bedrooms.

Actually I think I can make a generalisation about newbuilds where they make it a three bed and the third room isn't usable even for a bonsai baby.

Yes, but that's a different generalisation than "all new builds are small. If you have the right budget, there are plenty of large new builds too.

I know people in a new build semi. Is three storeys so the bedroom sizes are okay but their ‘living area’ is a smallish lounge with a tiny kitchen tacked onto the back. And the lounge has a staircase in in.

However they have a weirdly large downstairs toilet, which they use as a cupboard because there is no other storage.

I can’t imagine living like that.

Agree there are plenty of large new builds, you will just have to up your budget OP.

I’m in a 3 bed new build and have found the opposite! The bedrooms are really good sizes with a built in wardrobe in the master, the second bedroom could have a double bed and wardrobe in and the ‘box’ room has already had a double blow up mattress in so we have a good idea on size. Fwiw, our house is built by a standard developer and we were not expecting these proportions when we viewed it!

They also seem to have a disproportionate amount of bathrooms but zero storage space.

Because it's what people want .. they need / want 3 beds and the developers make starter price 3 beds . You are obviously viewing those houses . I have a new build and the bedrooms are massive !! Literally way too big . Depends on thr price it was sold at but there is / was a market for them !

They are ridiculously small! We recently had to move and every property that matched our current rent was tiny, we viewed 4 new builds and all them we so crammed, no room for appliances, no room for dining room tables in kitchens, the box rooms were all so tiny you couldn’t even fit a single bed and drawers in them and like you we saw master bedrooms that would only fit a bed and maybe a chest of drawers or one single wardrobe.
Where do people put their clothes!? Where do they store anything? All the gardens were also teeny tiny little squares, no room for playing, no room or having family visit.
We felt all of the 3 beds we viewed would be suited to a family just starting out with a baby/toddler.

I agree OP - another problem is the prioritisation for what space is available - and a tendency to put bathrooms where a sane architect would put a cupboard.

I rented a room in my younger days, in three new builds where there was literally NOWHERE to store a vacuum or an ironing board, so they ended up just migrating round the house. No space in the hall for proper set of coat hooks. No space in the kitchen for a regular bin, let alone a recycling bin.

And yet three toilets and a roomy bathroom (although not roomy enough to put up a drying rack for your laundry; far more important apparently to have a separate shower cubicle from the bath).

And internal walls made of some inferior cardboard so you couldnt hang shelves or cupboards to start to solve the problem.

I rented in these properties because it was what we could afford, but they weren't cheap.

I now live in an 80s build, it isnt perfect but the proportions make a lot more sense and there are fewer toilets than bedrooms, solid walls, and a decent sized garden.

So I'd say 80s or earlier, you'll be better off.

Echo pp, greed.