floor plans - different square footage

JeffMason

Hi All,

I'm interested in a flat, the floor plan says the total square footage is 901 sq ft. But, when doing some research into previous sales of the property, I found an old floor plan that gives the total as 799.8 sq ft, which is quite different. I'm guessing that the newer one is including corridors and the downstairs hallway leading up to this first floor flat, anyone good at this stuff to know for sure?

Here they both are:
https://imgur.com/a/u22s8KG

Slithery

Why does it matter? Just view the property and see if it's big enough for you.

davidmcn

JeffMason said:

anyone good at this stuff to know for sure?

If you want to know for sure, go round and bring your measuring tape with you.

MaryNB

Floor plans should be treated as a rough guide. I've seen total nonsense on some ads. I take a laser distance measurer to viewings.

 The reception room is nearly a foot wider on the first plan. I would guess the second plan only measures to the the chimney breast, but it doesn't show one either. They seem to measure beyond the chimney breast in bedroom one though (same dims on both).

The bathroom on the second is a good example of misleading figures. It's only 7'9" at the door, the rest of the room is narrower. I've seen long L-shaped rooms where the width noted only applies to where the door is but the rest of the room is half as wide. 

JeffMason

It doesn't matter that much if it's just a little, but 100 sq ft seems like quite a lot. I think the higher number seems bigger than it is (I've seen it already) and so it's the EA taking the !!!!!!, and that is irritating. I'd like a realisitic sense of size so I can compare what I'm getting for my money with others of similar size. I've not seen any 900 sq ft flats in this price range before this one, and it's just sneaky to exagerate...

I don't have any idea how these numbers are worked out and wondered if anyone had insight is all....

davidmcn

JeffMason said:

I don't have any idea how these numbers are worked out and wondered if anyone had insight is all....

They multiply the length by the width and add them together.

There is no particular methodology mandated for this sort of thing, unlike the protocols which might apply if we were talking about commercial property, so what you do with hallways, walk-in cupboards/fitted wardrobes, alcoves etc is up for grabs. For EPCs I think they just use the external dimensions to get the gross area for the building rather than measure individual rooms.

MovingForwards

The Homebuyers report, EPC and mortgage valuation all gave different sizes of my flat. 

For me, it wasn't the size. The layout, location, views, garden, some old features, high ceilings, big windows and shower room worked for my wants, needs and requirements.

Have you worked out what you want / would like / don't want in a property yet?

hazyjo

Have you actually bought anywhere yet as I thought you had a mortgage sorted a while back and it seems you've been talking about buying for two years!

Very confused. Are you back to square one or are there scenarios all hypothetical?

JeffMason

hazyjo said:

Have you actually bought anywhere yet as I thought you had a mortgage sorted a while back and it seems you've been talking about buying for two years!

Very confused. Are you back to square one or are there scenarios all hypothetical?

I have been planning it for a while, yes. A few issues stopped me when I first wanted to do it and I was full back into it and viewing property etc two weeks before lockdown... And now I'm back at it, desperate to move now, with less money to spend and bigger concerns about job security and space if I have to work from home for long periods. I have seen a couple of places a week for the last few weeks and when they seem like they could work, I start investigating the concerns... I'm going back for a second look at this one at the end of the week, along with another around the corner from it.

Apologies if this is bothering you, but it's incredibly stressful as this is a lot of money and all that I have so I don't want to get it wrong. I'm asking questions of vendors, EA's and friends as well, but the advice I get here is incredibly helpful so I keep coming back. I hope that it will be helpful for others in future searches of the forum too. 

JeffMason

MovingForwards said:

The Homebuyers report, EPC and mortgage valuation all gave different sizes of my flat. 

For me, it wasn't the size. The layout, location, views, garden, some old features, high ceilings, big windows and shower room worked for my wants, needs and requirements.

Have you worked out what you want / would like / don't want in a property yet?

Yes, I have, and recently I thought I'd worked out that a minimum square footage (I've seen quite a few that were much smaller than the photos suggested) and started using that to quickly drop potential properties from the list. But that was before I realised that the size can be measured in a few different ways. 

This is really helpful though. Square footage is still a factor but layout also comes into play massively and it's the combination of the two that makes a place work or not. 

theoretica

JeffMason said:

This is really helpful though. Square footage is still a factor but layout also comes into play massively and it's the combination of the two that makes a place work or not. 

As you say - I found it more useful to look at the dimensions for the rooms, I didn't really care about the total including corridors etc.