Welcome to 'rabbit hutch Britain'

carolt

Apologies if posted elsewhere:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/10/rooms-private-housing-too-small

Really2

carolt wrote: »

Apologies if posted elsewhere:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/10/rooms-private-housing-too-small

Why the hell do people buy them then? (not being funny it is a genuine question)

The smallest room in our house is the utility at 12' X 5'

The next smallest is my sons bedroom at 13'5 X 6'6.

If I could not get a new build bigger than an older house I would be the older house. Simple.

delain

my house is small, and i run out of space regularly!

i lived in a flat once that had one row of kitchen units, and if you stood next to them and raised your arm, you'd be touching the opposite wall!

nearlynew

It's scandalous when you think of how much money has been sucked out of the economy to fuel a housing boom and the end result is of such poor quality.

Nevr mind though, at least they have got more expensive,eh?

Really2

delain wrote: »

my house is small, and i run out of space regularly!

i lived in a flat once that had one row of kitchen units, and if you stood next to them and raised your arm, you'd be touching the opposite wall!

Actualy I did live in a 60/70's 1bed Maisonette about 10 years ago with my partner.
I can confirm rabbit hutches are not a new phenomenon.:)

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I think new houses are awful.
We bought one as we needed a quick move from one area to another so did a part ex for a three bed semi to avoid us having to sell.
I hated it and could'nt wait to find the house I was realy wanting.
I did after a couple of years,we bought a four bed Victorian place for the same price.It has huge reception rooms and a large kitchen.
The hallway is enormous and the upstairs landings are each bigger than the actual living room we had in the new house.Even the cupboard under the stairs is bigger than the en-suite that was in the new one.
What gets me is they market these new houses as spacious and get away with it.

carolt

Really2 wrote: »

Why the hell do people buy them then? (not being funny it is a genuine question)

The smallest room in our house is the utility at 12' X 5'

The next smallest is my sons bedroom at 13'5 X 6'6.

If I could not get a new build bigger than an older house I would be the older house. Simple.

I just don't get it either. I have looked at new builds to buy, but the minuteness (and, TBH, the newness) put me off.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Really2 wrote: »

Why the hell do people buy them then? (not being funny it is a genuine question)

I guess because in London (where the survey this article was based on was carried out) the nice, spacious, well-proportioned Victorian and Edwardian houses are at a premium. The newbuild blocks have all the shared ownership "incentives" for people desperate to buy.

I nearly ended up renting a 1 bed "house"; no entrance hall, tiny kitchen, small lounge with a spiral staircase leading up to small bedroom with built in wardrobe but no room for anything other than a bed, and a small bathroom. I briefly thought it was "cute", but thankfully the deranged LL prevented me from signing up to what would surely have been a very cramped and uncute 6 months.

These places seem designed to be showrooms for vases of twigs, the odd cushion and a couple of framed Ikea prints. Not the kind of stuff people actually own, ie spare winter duvet, hoover, mop n bucket, suitcases, more than one coat and pair of boots etc.

Really2

carolt wrote: »

I have looked at new builds to buy, but the minuteness (and, TBH, the newness) put me off.

I don't mind new (because during summer and winter it is beneficial) but I do like good architecture and space. There are some nice big ones;) but not many, but a year ago price per square foot was significantly cheaper than any other properties (mainy due to builder fire sales).

I should imagine it is a greater problem where land costs are higher.
Example
My old town
3 Bed detached very small with a another house literally less that 4' away would have cost more than our current house.

Our nearest neighbour is about 40-50' away.

I cant understand not wanting space. More space is most probably the biggest reason why people move. So going for a bigger house makes a lot of sense in the long run.

penguine

They were talking about this on Radio 4 this morning. One of the interviewees observed that rooms were shrinking in size during the boom. It seems obvious, the more money builders can make from each individual property, the more they're going to try to squeeze into the available space. And then they'll try to blame it on someone else:

A spokesman for the Home Builders Federation, which represents private housebuilders, said the results of the survey contradicted their own customer satisfaction surveys, and the government had a responsibility to increase the amount of land available to build homes if rooms were to become larger.

I very much doubt they'd build homes with larger rooms if they had more land!

CLAPTON

The price of 'property' in London and much of the southeast is largely determined by the price of land and not the cost of the actual building.

Many young people move from shared property to their own first home and are willing to accept a small place because it's 'their own' and don't intend to stay there very long anyway.