Unimaginative housing

[Salu]

Have you ever wanted to buck the trend of housing?

I found myself today wondering about why we do certain things in a certain way. Is it consumer expectation or lack of lateral thinking?

Why do we rarely build more than 2 storeys high when there is a huge demand for loft conversions?

Why do we never build houses with cellars that are properly designed as another storey when land is such a premium? The cost according to my structual engineer friend is a speck in the price of the building costs.

Why do builders always build too many houses on a plot of land? Ok they want to maximise their profits but they don't tend to do this abroad. They could do so abroad even though land is much cheaper there; but they don't. I would love to buy a plot of land and build 3 quality, large houses where as a builder would build 5 smaller compact ones. The ones where you can shake the hand of your neighbour through the windows when you are shaving in the morning....

Why are there only 2 rooms downstairs? The living room and the dining room...in the USA they have a family room too. Sure, some have studies but surely this would make sense..?

Why are there not many houses built of wood? They look great and you can buy kits relatively cheaply from the states.

Everybody wants to play safe all the time or the other way and make them bizarre...

Ikea have started selling kit houses which innovative but a little, well.....odd but at least they are trying...

http://www.boklok.com/

[me283]

In this country I believe we are hamstrung by regulations, petty jealousy and greed. Let me explain:

When you build a house you have to get planning permission. The amount of regulations that are in place is unbelievable. A lot are understandable/justifiable, but some are a little bizarre. To quote an example, one of my brothers owns a large house in a green belt area. It is a long way from any other house, and has a substantial plot of land with it. He applied to extend the house marginally and it took 18 months to get any approval at all. He was limited to the increase in floor area (15% IIRC), the height of the building, elevation etc. Then he faced staunch opposition from a local councillor who lived several miles away, but was known for being jealous of people who seemed to be better off than him! (Ironically, one of the deciding factors in the application was the precedent set by the very same concillor). Also, there are endless specifications that have to be approved: brick type/colour, tiles etc. Also worthy of mention is the fact that when you apply for planning permission, quite often people raise objections that are irrelevant or unfounded, but still these can hinder the process.

Where builders are concerned, it is simply greed. They are cashing in on the fact that the Government's policy is to build, build, build, and hence they will always do what makes them more money. 5 houses will always sell for more than 3, even when the total area is the same. It's odd though - when you buy a property in the UK it is described as 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom etc; the emphasis is always on bedrooms. Go to other countries and they quote the area e.g. 120 square metres. That could be down to trying to get more people into houses, or it may be the overt snobbery that people display in this country when it comes to house sizes.

Finally, family rooms are a great thing, but maybe the concept of "family" in the UK is a distant memory?Or maybe people don't want to have a family room, they just want another bedroom to boast about.

The bottom line is, if you want a good sized, interesting, attractive house, in it's own space... don't look in the UK.

[Angua]

Cramming in houses is a Government planning guideline see ODPM Planning

As someone who has moved from a very large detached 3 storey Edwardian property (now demolished to be replaced by 2, 5 bed semis) to a 1950's 3 bed semi with 3 and a half downstairs rooms (thanks to a conservatory) I sympathise with your view (you would have to pay me to live in a new build house). First house I lived in was 3 storey and had a cellar (17th century terrace).

There is a huge increase in 3 storey "Town" houses and a lack of thought towards alternative building materials and methods. There is a local company which makes ready made timber framing (ideal for self build, more sustainable and quicker and cheaper to build with).

Even sitting on the local planning committee I find it very disheartning that local planners and committees are so stuck in the "brick built" style. Even worse, locally we have to contend with an abundance of "vernacular" as well. So every new house seems to be built of "Bradstone Cotswold". Sooo boring

Well off my now.
__________________

By the way me283 if a planning application (once plans are submitted to the planning department) takes longer than 8 weeks for a decision you can apply to the planning inspectorate for a decision on the grounds of "non determination".

[Salu]

I'm amazed that noone builds cellars though...with the land at such a premium....

[handyman]

I live in the gf's fam house. It was designed by them and is upside down, You enter on the 2nd floor and go down to the bed rooms. There are 2 lounges upstairs and 3 bedrooms and a master suite down stairs. afaik it was built for £80,000 10 yrs ago and is now £750,000. We hope to be able to build our own...

[me283]

Originally Posted by Salu

I'm amazed that noone builds cellars though...with the land at such a premium....

That was a point raised in my brother's application. The concillor who objected to everything claimed that there might be a cellar; this would obviously be included in the overall floor space. Naturally, people want their floorspace to be above ground, if it's of a limited amount.

[Martin]

A friend of mine lived in a house were you went in on the second floor Lounge, Kitchen, Dining Room then down to Study, Bedroom, Laundry room. The Top floor had 2 Bedrooms and Bathroom! The house was massive. Can't understand why there aren't more houses like this.

[me283]

Originally Posted by Martin

A friend of mine lived in a house were you went in on the second floor Lounge, Kitchen, Dining Room then down to Study, Bedroom, Laundry room. The Top floor had 2 Bedrooms and Bathroom! The house was massive. Can't understand why there aren't more houses like this.

Because a developer would think: hmmm, I can build a nice 3-storeyhouse... or I can build several flats...

Flats would be worth more to sell, greed kicks in.

[Martin]

True! But there could be so much more better quality houses than there are! Quite a lot of modern housing is way overpriced and so small!!

[me283]

Originally Posted by Martin

True! But there could be so much more better quality houses than there are! Quite a lot of modern housing is way overpriced and so small!!

Totally agree. But the people who build them aren't the people who live in them...

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by Salu

Why are there only 2 rooms downstairs? The living room and the dining room...in the USA they have a family room too. Sure, some have studies but surely this would make sense..?

Once upon a time houses had a front room and a back room (where you put the coffin). Society changes and our houses follow.

Originally Posted by Salu

I'm amazed that noone builds cellars though...with the land at such a premium....

Because a lot of building sites are disused graveyards or industrial sites. You wouldn't want to dig that deep - never know who or what you might dig up.

[makikomi]

I really don't understand why radiators are nearly always located right underneath windows, especially when the window is single glazed. If they were located on an internal wall, the heat from the side of the radiator would help warm up the house, instead of a comparatively cold exterior wall, and the rising heat wouldn't heat a cold window.

Also, double glazing and cavity wall insulation should come as standard. It's cheaper to fit them dutring construction than aftewards, and we should be looking for fuel efficiency and saving the environment, etc.

[Angua]

Originally Posted by makikomi

I really don't understand why radiators are nearly always located right underneath windows, especially when the window is single glazed. If they were located on an internal wall, the heat from the side of the radiator would help warm up the house, instead of a comparatively cold exterior wall, and the rising heat wouldn't heat a cold window.

Also, double glazing and cavity wall insulation should come as standard. It's cheaper to fit them dutring construction than aftewards, and we should be looking for fuel efficiency and saving the environment, etc.

New builds are done this way as they have to for "sustainability". Agree regarding radiators, which ideally should be at 90 degrees to the windows on internal walls, apparently directly opposite a window gives you lovely warm ceilings due to the cold air from the window pushing the warm air from the radiator to the ceiling in a nice circular manner.

[marky]

I think the idea is that the radiator makes a warm air curtain to stop draughts.

[Angua]

Originally Posted by marky

I think the idea is that the radiator makes a warm air curtain to stop draughts.

That was the original idea, but as the warmest place is immediately behind the radiator it does seem somewhat daft to heat an outside wall.