Small but tall houses...

To get back to thread(!) A friend of mine bought such a house - now has 2 kids - spends all her time running up and down stairs & is totally fed up with it. I think it's just builders trying to get as much house on as little land as possible. As for room size, the smallest rooms are deemed ok by those who don't have to live there.........................and put up with by people whose income doesn't allow them much choice. I once saw the DCC rules on room size and if you put a king size bed in the master bedroom, you coulnd't fit a wardrobe/chest of drawers. (If your partner is much heavier than you, you *need* a king size bed!) The poor will always be treated with contempt.

Gordanus said:

I think it's just builders trying to get as much house on as little land as possible. As for room size, the smallest rooms are deemed ok by those who don't have to live there

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I once saw the DCC rules on room size and if you put a king size bed in the master bedroom, you coulnd't fit a wardrobe/chest of drawers. (If your partner is much heavier than you, you *need* a king size bed!)

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Don't national (DoE) statutory building regulations mandate certain minimum room sizes? I don't think that they have special allowances for king size beds and heavy partners though.

........................and put up with by people whose income doesn't allow them much choice.

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I'm not sure that such "small but tall houses" are necessarily cheap. I know of some that fit that description that are far from the lowest end of the market.

The poor will always be treated with contempt.

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Huh!!?!

ClubMan said:

Don't national (DoE) statutory building regulations mandate certain minimum room sizes?
Huh!!?!

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yes, the regs give the smallest possible minimum. Why shouldn't people in council homes have king size beds?

As for your "huh?!", is it not true that if you don't have the money, you have to put up with living conditions that anyone who can afford it gets out of as soon as possible?

Gordanus said:

yes, the regs give the smallest possible minimum. Why shouldn't people in council homes have king size beds?

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I doubt that only local authority provided housing just meet the minimum size standards. I'm pretty sure that some private housing (especially some apartments) also fit this bill. I have a feeling that the bedrooms in my own house might be a case in point although I'd need to measure them again and compare the results to the relevant regulations.

As for your "huh?!", is it not true that if you don't have the money, you have to put up with living conditions that anyone who can afford it gets out of as soon as possible?

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People with more money can rent or buy better housing than those with less. So what? That's capitalism and the free market for you. Do you have a realistic alternative proposal?

I was thinking about this at the weekend and it occured to me that tall but small houses (i.e. less ground floor space) must be a lot more energy efficent than any other kind of build. Maybe this is a factor in their increased popularity.

However, I live in the middle of nowhere and while there are plenty of tall houses and many with ready-converted lofts (which I reckon is a great idea), they are anything but small. Most of my bling bling neighbours would consider any house smaller than 3000 sq ft not worth building.

Rebecca

ClubMan said:

I'm pretty sure that some private housing (especially some apartments) also fit this bill.

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That's true. I remember a friend commenting on a one-bedroom apartment after seeing the show apt saying that the bedroom contained a very narrow single bed, and that the normal size single bed would block the door. Builders obviously not concerned about the single person's sex life............or were they????

I'm moving into one of these small but tall houses next year. I was hoping someone could help me with the type of layout i should go for -

Type 1
Ground floor
kitchen/Dining
Living Room
First Floor
3 bedrooms
bathroom
Second Floor
Master bedroom with walk in wardrobe and ensuite

Type 2
Ground floor
Kitchen/Dining
Living Room
First floor
Master bedroom with ensuite
Drawing Room
Second floor
3 bedrooms
bathroom

Our own house at the moment is as follows -
kitchen
Living room
2nd living room cum dining room.
3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and then we have the attic converted into a playroom.

I'm so used to having so much living space downstairs i'm wondering would it be hard to adjust t o type 1.
I made type 2 up myself but i passed it by the builder and he said there shouldnt be a problem.
Any ideas?