Am I the only one fed up with houses being so small? do others feel the same way?

user1168934

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I agree with you about new builds. They are making people regard small as normal.
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In today's housing, it would be bunk beds on one wall and a bookcase on the other with about two feet between the two.
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Yes this is exactly what I am talking about. This is what I have seen when looking for a place to buy and it worries me as to how can families live in such cramped places for the whole life and be happy about it.

Crashy_Time

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15886303.RIP_capitalism_____millennials_will_dig_your_grave/

moneyistooshorttomention

user1168934 wrote: »

Yes this is exactly what I am talking about. This is what I have seen when looking for a place to buy and it worries me as to how can families live in such cramped places for the whole life and be happy about it.

Many households (family or otherwise) arent "happy about it" I guess - judging by just how many extensions get added to houses (even when - as is often the case - the garden is too small to be a decent garden anyway in the first place).

AdrianC

When my mother was house-shopping two years ago, one place we looked at was a new-build two-storey-bungalow. There was no problem whatsoever with room sizes - they were more than generous. But the "garden" was a fringe all round.

lincroft1710

user1168934 wrote: »

This is what I have seen when looking for a place to buy and it worries me as to how can families live in such cramped places for the whole life and be happy about it.

It was a case of a) what was available b) what was affordable.

The ubiquitous 3 bed semi of 1000 sq ft or less, was the best that many could aspire to until the 1980s. It was often the only house type (or a detached version) on the vast amount of new estates built from the 1930s to the 1970s. If you couldn't afford a 3 bed semi, it was a Victorian/Edwardian 2 or 3 bed terraced, the "best" of which remain, the worst long gone in various slum clearance projects. Obviously there were exceptions but they were in the minority.

Spending almost the first 14 years of my life in an Edwardian terrace with neither proper bathroom or kitchen and the only toilet at the bottom of the yard I envied my schoolfellows who lived on newly built council estates in houses with proper bathrooms and kitchens and inside toilet.

We lived in cramped conditions because that was what was on offer. Of course we would have loved to live in mansions, but we couldn't afford them and there weren't enough to go round!

RedRuby_2

Yes, as someone who has been house hunting for years, I think that properties have gotten smaller. To the extent that in a lot of new builds there is no separate kitchen. Instead everything is open plan. I've seen so many photos where the sofa is right in front of the oven or next to the fridge.

What really annoys me is when people with older properties with defined rooms, knock down walls and make them open plan. Ruining a perfectly good house with modern ideas of living in one big space. If you wanted that kind of house in the first place why not just buy one in the first place.

Also a lot of places are being built without any storage space. Surely its reasonable to assume that people have stuff, whatever that maybe and so people should be accommodated enough space to put said stuff.

Double bedrooms where there is only just enough space for a double bed and a small cabinet are becoming the norm and I just don't understand how they expect people to live in such small spaces. Do they not think that these people have clothes, shoes, accessories, books, gadgets etc.

If you have no storage where you store the hoover, bucket and mop, other household cleaning and DIY items, family memorabilia etc.

As these new builds are being built so has the number of storage facilities increased.

AdrianC

RedRuby wrote: »

Yes, as someone who has been house hunting for years, I think that properties have gotten smaller. To the extent that in a lot of new builds there is no separate kitchen. Instead everything is open plan. I've seen so many photos where the sofa is right in front of the oven or next to the fridge.

What really annoys me is when people with older properties with defined rooms, knock down walls and make them open plan. Ruining a perfectly good house with modern ideas of living in one big space. If you wanted that kind of house in the first place why not just buy one in the first place.

Open plan versus separate rooms is different to amount of space, of course. It's not hard to put partition walls (back) up if your preference is to separate the rooms.

I don't think I've ever seen any photos of anywhere - even a studio flat - that has the sofa "right in front of the oven or next to the fridge". Can you give us some RM links, because I could do with a good laugh...

GreenSnake

This is one reason I'm considering moving abroad.
House building in the UK seems to be dominated by large house building firms, obviously looking to maximise profit.

I've heard that elsewhere in Europe, self build has been much more common, leading to some better size and quality houses.

GreenSnake

Perhaps one day houses will also be fitted with doors large enough to get sofas in..? I know, I'm a dreamer...!

AdrianC

Perhaps if people didn't have a TV the size of the house?