Is it just me or the UK properties?

[Awakenedsoul]

As a Canadian who recently moved to the UK (due to DH's job) I have been looking for a property to buy closer to London.

Am I unreasonable to think the properties are weird here? Here are my reasons:

1. 2 bedroom houses with one box room are sold as 3 bedroom houses. In the US and Canada they are typically called 2+1 houses etc. I mean it is no offence to box room but that cant be sold as bedroom. Or the 3rd bedroom is a tiny single room with barely any room to move after one puts a single bed in.

1. Most of the semis in my budget (550k) do not have more than 1 bathroom. Even when the owner has properly extended the house, they would not add a bathroom and a 4 bedroom house has to make do with 1 bath.

1. There is no way to search RM based on the number of shower rooms. The only criteria available is to search by the number of bedrooms. Would it not be easier to just eliminate those houses with single baths while searching as opposed to manually browsing each property.

1. Things that would be considered standard in other countries are sold as 'attractions'. For example, some EAs would advertise 'Downstairs w/c' as a highlight in the ad summary.

1. Barring the new builds, most semis / detached properties have outsized gardens and the floor area is relatively tiny. For example, floor area would be 1000-1200 sq ft and have a long narrow garden area. Not sure why in a country where gardens are not usable for almost 7-8 months in a year, floor area as a percentage of garden area is so tiny.

1. Conservatories are so common but they cant be used year round unless you invest in heating / aircon.

I grew up in a house built in 1973. My parents still live there. It's just like OP describes. My brother is younger than me so he had the box room! 😂 There's one bathroom and it's downstairs. So you have to sneak down the creaky stairs to pee at night!

We had a small garden out the back that just accommodated a shed and there is a small garden out front. There is a garage (which my parents don't use for the car but is filled with junk). My parents put a conservatory in in the early 2000s and they heat it in winter, but keep the door open in summer 😂.

It's totally normal to me. You adapt to what you have. I look at the house now and realise it's tiny but growing up, it was enough. Interestingly my friend whom I've known a lifetime lives in a similar house at another town nearby, with her husband and two kids. I live in a flat in London. 😁

Good Point whomever mentioned mixer taps

Mid terrace (shared porch), 1920 built council house here. Large Estate.

My sort of Inlaws (via marriage) lived in one long before I moved here and had had nothing done to it. So it looked how it would have done then. Brick painted walls in the kitchen, standard sink with 2 taps and a garden out the back.
The council updated every house at some stage so mine got said upgrade
Back to mixer taps. The bath and the kitchen sink have mixer taps but the sink in the bathroom does not.
As others have said though, OP, your budget is on the low side. Just saying

Homes in US/Canada are typically much larger overall though.We have friends there and their property is about half what ours is worth but bigger IFYSWIM. Also bear in mind London an SE are the most expensive areas to live here.A slightly longer commute will be cheaper ,but you have to factor in more expensive fares and a longer journey to work and back

UK houses are fabulous. Stop carping.

How about something likes this OP - in a decent bit of Reading and very quick line into London. In budget and lots of spare rooms -good space for the money

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/127985666#/?channel=RES_BUY

You are not describing UK houses you are describing London houses.

The UK is a varied country with vastly different properties the length and breadth of it.

We are not all crammed into the south east of England

I bloody hate mixer taps and have removed them from every property I've ever lived in! I also hate lots of bathrooms (took out an en suite from my current house after we moved in and made it into a lovely walk in cupboard - much more practical). More bathrooms is just more cleaning, and less space to live in.

"Only on MN could north of half a million pounds be described as 'a small budget'."

I was going to write exactly that!
It's also mainly on MN that I've realised so many people have more than one bathroom or that ensuites are common in new houses.
I didn't know ANYBODY with a second bathroom growing up although quite a few had a downstairs toilet.
My gp still had an outside toilet that we used, though they did have an upstairs bathroom put in some time after my df left home.

That's your issue - lack of money - especially if you want to live anywhere near London. All the things you want exist in plenty of houses, but you will need more money, or you have to compromise. It's a bit odd to be honest saying that you think UK houses are weird when it's just a question of what you can afford in your budget

I feel your pain. I'm back from visiting my family and was reminded how nice it was to have a 4 bedroom house with 3 complete bathrooms.

What got me too was that here in the UK my MiL was living in a tiddly room with and en suite with a toilet and sink in a care home at £5k a month. Which is considered very low cost. My mother has just moved into an assisted living flat near Toronto - bedroom, bathroom with huge shower you could have a tea dance in it's so massive, living/dining room, kitchen space. Room to have lots of her farmhouse size furniture in. And all for less than half the price of what my MiL is paying here, about £2k a month. Should she need to progress to a higher level of care equivalent to MiL it will be an extra £500 a month.

It demonstrates just how ridiculous our housing market is when £550k is described as low budget-our housing market is distorted in comparison to other countries. It’s as if we believe that only the wealthy should have a decent standard of living. And build quality is low. Our houses look quaint but are often poorly built and insulated. And it’s regarded as a luxury to have more than one bathroom even though it makes life far more civilised. However if you are living in a highly populated area, there will be pressure on space-especially as land is expensive and building new housing difficult and bureaucratic.

I just read a really good article in the Telegraph that tracked house price growth. If you bought in the 90s you will have more than doubled your money. There is huge inter generational inequality & obviously so much of the market is driven by huge equity gains.

@Awakenedsoul I’ve never been to n America soo don’t know, but I gather that there is a bit more space there. 55million ppl in a landmass the size of the UK… a good tranche of them in the SE - there isn’t lots of space. Hence houses are smaller, terraced, semis.

I must say I never say big gardens when I lived in London, but maybe you mean the home counties more? Either way, yes, lots of people live with one bathroom and use a 7ftsq room as a bedroom. The trade-off is that they get to live near a great and vibrant city.

And to those shocked that 550k is not a big budget? Look at prices in or near London. Op wants a house with 3/4 big bedrooms, separate utility, good amount of space, 2/3 bathrooms. That’s my house actually, and it’s not anywhere near London, in fact it’s in an unfashionable Midlands city, but 550k certainly won’t come close to buying it, sorry.

Btw my three bathrooms or at least three loos just means more to clean. Tho I do like a downstairs loo and agree with op I wouldn’t buy without one.

@clary Out of interest is your house way better than the one I posted below in west Reading at £500k ? Because that to me seemed to fit the bill. Just curious really-

I honestly think it's not just the SE-vast amounts of England , where there is work and considerable demand are hugely overpriced - I've been amazed at prices people quoted in West Midlands in particular (and I did live there any moons ago) -East Midlands seems way better value

@Crikeyalmighty I do like the house you linked to, I could move in & not want to change too much (unusual for me), but there's no way I'd want to live in that location. For too close to the Oxford road. (Sorry if you live there, but if you're happy then it's all good)

@SkylightSkylight nope, I don't live there (nor Reading) so you aren't offending me! but yep maybe not if it's very close to oxford Rd.

@Crikeyalmighty I don't know Readjng at all but my house is on a very quiet road in a really lovely suburb (imo haha) with good schools and decent local facilities (shops, doctor, parks) plus its10 minutes to town on a regular bus. No idea if that applies to the house you tagged.

That's a nice house but mine has a much bigger kitchen/dining/living room plus a separate living room, study, four bedrooms all bigger than the smaller two in that house. Plus an extra bathroom. Plus a utility. Plus a garage. No outside office tho.

I think the op might call 8ft x 8ft too small tbh and they want more bathrooms I think. My point was that a house with no small bedroom will probs be a four bed.

OP you'd be aghast at some of the houses round here that are three beds, the box room is tiny and the bathroom is downstairs, off the kitchen.

I was in one recently where the only toilet was downstairs and would technically still be classed as an outdoor toilet.

Yes

In my Aunts housing development in Canada, no washing lines, seems to be like that in USA as well

1. Box room isn't really a thing in UK. We don't have much land. If is not a living room/kitchen/bathroom/dining room then it's a bedroom. Boxes are kept in the garage or loft. Cars are not often kept in garages.

1. And 4. One bathroom with a toilet in it is normal. Therefore an extra toilet somewhere or an en-suite master bedroom is an additional attraction and will be marketed as such.

1. Probably because nobody searches for homes that way, it would take forever to find something. If you're part of a chain your buyer would be likely to pull out of the sale due to taking so long for you to find somewhere you want to move to. Most people would find a suitable property and extend/convert to add an additional bathroom if it was so important to them. If they lost a bedroom to do it, it would devalue their house. There's no guarantee of getting planning consent either.

1. You're being ridiculous. Gardens can be used for most of the year. Just not necessarily for sunbathing. People have multiple children and dogs who like gardens or they're into gardening. You're talking about older properties. During the second world war, gardens were turned into allotments because food was rationed. That's why they're built with long thin gardens, some room for flowers and children playing, some room for a vegetable patch. This is why new builds have tiny gardens, people don't live that way any more.

1. Conservatories are cheaper to build and easier to get planning consent for than an extension. If nothing else they add floor space and provide a storage area/somewhere to dry washing when you can't line-dry. UK homes generally don't have a utility room and kitchens can be small.

Hilariously we're in the middle of house renovation and just ordered bathroom and downstairs WC sanitaryware. We didn't want mixer taps but it's almost impossible to avoid them now!

OP the box room rooms are fantastic as a nursery or child's bedroom. We had one at our old house. We've now bought a much bigger house with the space you require but I'm afraid it's more than your budget and a very long way from London!

It was common for houses not to have even an inside toilet, let alone a bathroom. My Mum grew up in a house like this - toilet at the bottom of the garden, bath in tub in kitchen once a week - and didn't get an inside toilet until the 1960s. Bathrooms were then added but would often contain the only toilet.

Get used to it! With a low budget you'll have limited options.
Houses that you're describing, with a single bedroom (box room) and with long narrow gardens are usually 100 years or so old (Victorian terraces) and so they simply didn't have the room for multiple bathrooms etc. actually they didn't have bathrooms at all. Just outside toilets.

You'll need to either move further from London or up your budget!!!

To give you an idea OP- if you moved somewhere like say Newbury - still handy ish for London but also for West Country- you could get something detached and 5 bed like this that covers off everything you are after!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128325569

@Crikeyalmighty that's a lot of house for your money! Is it bc there is no drive or garden tho?