Buying off plans - No Entrance Hall

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dowlinj

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Hi there,

Not sure if this is the correct place for this thread but here goes...
I've just put down a booking deposit on a 2 bed mid-terraced house which I'm buying off the plans. To be honest it was a bit of a rush putting down the booking deposit but I knew I could always back out if something turned up which concerned me.

So here's what concerns me: The front door of the house opens from the outside directly into the lounge area of the house and there's no entrance hall (there's a hall area between lounge and kitchen areas). It wasn't something that concerned me when originally viewing the plans but a couple of people I know seem to think it a bit odd. Is this kind of layout common and would it be regarded as unacceptable or possibly against regulations? I dont want this to be a problem when I go to sell the property in the future. Apologies if this thread is outside the scope of this forum but I figured it was as good a place as any to post...
 
It's not against any regulations and in fact is relatively common, in newer builds anyway. It'll be murder on your heatings bills though.

[broken link removed]

Energy efficient buildings "legislation".
 
I remember this as being a feature of Granny flats, sounds to me like a better use of space than a hall that is simply wasted. However unless its well insulated you might lose heat. Its not a bad idea if you're one of those people who takes their shoes off inside the house.
 
I've seen this quite a bit in older houses (well, 70s), so it's not unusual. If you are planning on having children soon, it's a pain having prams and buggies in the sitting room instead of the hall. It also is murder on heating bills (I lived in a house like this where the stairs also went straight up from the sitting room, the house was impossible to heat). It also means a lack of privacy, if you have extra guests staying over, sleeping on the couch is not comfortable. This is all from a 'user' point of view, don't know if it would affect resale value...
 
Thanks to everyone who replied. Yeah, heating would be the main concern here, but as there's only one external wall in the lounge I'm hoping this should help with heating the place. It would appear to me to be a tactic used by the builder to fit the most into the space available. Not sure if this means much but on the brochure it states that the house is "Natural Gas Energy Rated". Also, it's just going to be myself and my girlfriend living in the house and I don't foresee us having any kids while living there so this isn't really an issue.
 
is there the possibity of putting on a porch at the front or a sliding patio door at the front to give it a small hallway feeling outside and keep the heat in
 
I was thinking that too. If you're allowed to put on a porch that would keep out a lot of the cold and draught.
 
I was thinking of buying a house from the plans...Waht is the standard deposit and is it legally binding on both sides ?
 
Our first house was what seems to be the standard 2 bed terraced one these days. Front door directly into sitting room - stairs off the far side of sitting room to upstairs and a kitchen behind.
I didn't mind the layout of the house at all - it was an ideal starter and as they are terraced the heating is not an issue at all. In fact if both neighbours have theirs on you won't need to put yours on !!
The only downside apart from it being a smaller living space is that houses like this can be prone to noise pollution. We moved out of ours because we could hear both neighbours TV's, conversations, sexual relations etc through what seemed to be paper thin hotel type walls.
 
Thanks folks. Looks like the heating shouldn't be too much of a problem. I currently live in an apartment complex and never need to turn on the heat due to being surrounded by other apartments. Hopefully same will apply. In relation to the thickness of the walls...well time will tell what will happen there. I'm happy enough now that this is a good starting point to "get on the ladder". My mind is at rest.
 
I have just bought a 2 bed house, front door opens straight into Living room, not too worried about heating as its a timber frame and I think it should be easy to heat. Hallway is in the middle of the house with the kitchen to the rear. We have an option of putting in a small hall inside the door but this would leave the living room quite small.
 
Cm Taz, sounds like we lived in the same house at some stage! I have just left a house like you describe and while I didn't notice any probelm with regards the heating of it, it did drive me mad hearing all the neighbours lives being lived out beside me. I actually hated the lay out. It really bothered me that the front door opened right into the sitting room. It meant you always felt you were disturbing the person in the sitting-room when you came in with you umbrella and keys etc, making a racket. It meant the sitting room just wasn't a place I could ever feel relaxed in either.
 
sorry, was on two forums at same time and posted in wrong one, can't delete message
 
Trafford said:
Cm Taz, sounds like we lived in the same house at some stage! I have just left a house like you describe and while I didn't notice any probelm with regards the heating of it, it did drive me mad hearing all the neighbours lives being lived out beside me..
Click to expand...

Are you the noisy bas$%!d then ? :)

Seriously though a lot of people are complaining of the same in these terraced houses.
 
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