New-build dwellers get that shrinking feeling

Published 12th Aug 2009

New houses have many advantages over the Victorian and Edwardian homes that dominate many of Britain’s towns and cities. They boast the latest fixtures and fittings, they are cheaper to maintain, you do not have to move in, rip off the gruesome wallpaper and spend the next three years repainting them. But they do have one — fundamental — drawback. They are too small for modern living.

Indeed, when it comes to living space, people in the South East of England have to endure some of the most cramped conditions in the developed world.

Research by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe), a government advisory body, has found that owners of new homes in the South East do not have enough space to prepare food easily, to have friends round for dinner or even to find a quiet place to relax.

Moreover, more than 50 per cent of people living in flats, bungalows and houses built between 2003 and 2006 said that they did not have enough storage space; 47 per cent did not have enough room for all of their furniture and 44 per cent said that there was not enough space for children to play safely in the kitchen while a meal was being prepared. Almost three quarters had nowhere to keep three small recycling bins to separate out household waste.

The findings will add to pressure on housebuilders to switch to building larger homes, after they came under fire for supplying too many small flats in high-density urban developments during the property boom.

The Government, too, is likely to be under pressure to set minimum space requirements for all housing. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, began a campaign last year to rid the capital of so-called “hobbit homes”, but plans published last month by the Greater London Authority apply only to publicly funded schemes.

Richard Simmons, the chief executive of Cabe, said: “This research brings into question the argument that the market will meet the demands of people living in private housing developments. We need planning authorities to ensure much higher space standards before giving developments the go-ahead.”

The average newly built home in the UK is smaller than in any other European country, at 76 square metres, according to the most recent figures, compiled in 2004. In Japan, the land of the micro-home, the average property was 94.8 square metres in 2003. A typical new-build in Australia is 239 square metres.

Mr Cabe said that lack of space was a particular problem for low-income households. In 2006, when the Government last compiled the figures, the average household, old or new, measured 91 square metres. In deprived areas, that figure fell to 83. Insufficient demand for small flats has led to price falls of up to 40 per cent for such property in the downturn.

Steve Turner, of the Home Builders Federation, said: “In an ideal world, everyone wants space for a grand piano, but if you increase the size of homes without more land becoming available, the cost to the end user will go up, which contradicts the aim of offering affordable housing.”

Pressure to build as many new homes as possible has resulted in overcrowded developments, as well as smaller homes. The average number of new dwellings per hectare in the England has risen from 22 in 2002 to 44 last year, according to official figures.

Source: ' Times '

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