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New homes are too small, finds Cabe survey
11 August, 2009
Design watchdog discovers new-build private-sector homes in and around London have inadequate space for normal activity
Privately developed homes in and around London are not being designed or built to provide enough space for residents, according to new research by the government's design watchdog.
The survey by Cabe found that 47% of residents of new-build housing in the capital and the South-east said they did not have space for the furniture they had or required.
More than one-third (35%) said their kitchens were not big enough for the appliances they needed, and 37% said they and their children did not have enough space to entertain guests privately.
Over half of respondents (57%) said they did not have enough storage space, and more than seven in 10 (72%) said they did not have enough space for three bins in order to recycle properly.
The results were drawn from a survey of 2,500 residents of homes completed between 2003 and 2006, including flats, bungalows and houses. All of the homes were either in London or within an hour's drive of the capital.
Richard Simmons, Cabe chief executive, said: “This research brings into question the argument that the market will meet the demands of people living in private housing developments. We need local planning authorities to ensure much higher space standards before giving developments the go-ahead.”
The mayor of London recently proposed stringent space standards for publicly funded housing in the capital, with the intent that private developers would eventually have to follow suit.
Readers' comments
Finally following this helpful research we may be able to re-address the poor design that has been carried out across the South East as well as the rest of the UK, and yes; by all of us.
These mistakes do not happen at the end of the process with the Architectural design and detailing. These mistakes happen when urban designer/ architect/ planner teams plan large housing estates without any due regard for the realities of living. The boring stuff like parking and bin storage that takes up significant space is more often than not an afterthought.
A 'home' is not a home if you can not live in it or fit your bed through the front door! The result is tiny 'houses' with a storage depot on every corner to solve the space problems created throughout a poorly prepared and executed project.
What sort of places are we attempting to create? Architects need to be better Urban designers and Urban designers need to be better Architects. Built environment professionals need to start to talking and learning from each other about mechanisms to address this status quo. I plead to all designers and developers to stop using 'design standards' and guidance, but instead create future places using your intuition and knowledge.
Perhaps look at something brilliant, copy it and add your own twist. No other industry would accept products not fit for purpose, so why should the general public have to put up with this any longer? We need to be held accountable for this mess and perhaps out of the recession can step a new breed of designers ready to take on the challenge of making something work.
Over the last ten years, I have used the mantra; 'If you are not prepared to live or use something you create yourself, you should not design it in the first place.' I look forward to the day when there will be a house on the market that no estate agent needs to promote. Good quality products really do sell themselves, and I'm sure we would all be prepared to pay for it.
These research findings just suggest that most people want to live in bigger homes which is obvious. To have any credibility this survey should also have been carried out with owners of older homes in order to enable a comparison. I would be willing to bet the findings would be very similar.
Private housing developments are built by developers chasing maximum return on their investment. Whether that be large detached houses, townhouses or high density apartments. Whatever makes the highest return is what architects and urban planners are tasked to produce.
I carry out Home Inspections & EPCs and the diference in accommodation sizes as 'homes' get newer is marked. As Ben Allgood says if you would not be prepared to live in it, don't design or build. Perhaps these cramped conditions really do add to family breakdown and social dis-order? Perhaps we should return to miminum house sizes as under the Parker Morris Standards we used to work to?
You needen't be super intelligent to understand these issues even without 'research findings'. Prior to the now historic 'New Labour' government ellections, the Rowntree Trust had already produced an up todate version of P&M (minimum) standards +10%. Mrs T's government (not local government - as misleadingly claimed by the industry in a very brief debate with CABE's Dr Richard Simmons) had allowed a free for all or rather a free fall which reached a -10% below P&M of the minimum residential standards required, at least for the social housing sector. It takes some guts to create "21st Century Housing" which very few of us have, it seems.
How much is the avereage sq ft, of this aparments? is this social housing? Just to compare to what in mexico is building.
I was at the Urban Summit in 2002 when John Prescott announced new planning guidelines to boost density and turn London and our major cities into Barcelona. You can read his speech here. The Mayor of Barcelona was paraded on stage, and there was much talk of a vibrant cafe society. My recollection is that the pressure was then on any new home developer to pile them high and to fit in as many units as possible onto smaller brownfield plots where the cost of building was inevitably more expensive. So I wonder, how much of what we see today is a direct reflection of that policy?