General Chat

The UK builds the smallest homes in Europe, according to the government's adviser on architecture. How do British new-builds stack up internationally?

The sofa won't fit into the living room. There's not enough room for children to play in the kitchen as you cook. And where's the recycling bin meant to go?

These are some of the complaints from residents of new-build developments surveyed by Cabe, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

The floor area and room sizes are the smallest in Europe - the average room in a newly built dwelling in France is 26.9m square, compared with 15.8m square in the UK - and, the graph below shows how British new-builds are less than half the size of those in the United States and Australia.

A graph on:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8201900.stm
Brian(i)

The size you give for new builds in UK is about the size of my 1880's cottage in OZ, and I can swing a cat. Then again only OH and myself live in it, difficult when we have visitors. Plus we have four cats.

Also very dangerous having kids playing in the kitchen on the floor while you are cooking. At least it is a roof over your head and less to clean.

Gail

Just did a quick measure of my tiny place and it is 60 square meters. Very comfortable as well. We do not have a dinning room or a family room, it is easy to heat and keep cool in summer. When the weather is fine, we are outside most of the time.

I recently read about people in OZ crying poor, they had a huge house which cost $600 a month to heat in the winter. About the same to cool in summer.

Okay you have kids and need more space, then the kids grow up and leave and you are rattling around in a huge empty space.

My parents had a big house, they had trouble maintaining it as they grew older. I do not think there is a happy medium here. The only thing is a smaller home costs less to maintain.

I think the bigger the house the more junk you keep lol
The size of the rooms in some houses are a joke though,hardly enough room to fit a bed in never mind anything else.

Marion

I heard that on the radio the other morning Brian, no news to us though is it?
My little one bed roomed bungalow is just right for the two of us though.
I have brought up 4 children in houses with kitchens the size of 'box rooms'.

now that we are left on our own, OH and I love our tiny home.
Just big enough to keep tidy, now that we have no energy left.
When we have visitors.... now that is a different story.
Deanna X

We have less space here to build bigger housing.Maybe we could have basements built into the houses like they do in places like Canada.It makes a lot of sense.

yes ,well ,we are known as the poor nation of europe while the powers that be still seem to think we have an empire with plenty of money coming in to the coffers,maybe ,one day they will come out of their dream world and stop splashing cash that we havn't got on all and sundry but their own people ,but ,i doubt it.Fred.