Do we want bigger houses?

According to Ed Harding, Older People’s Housing and Under – Occupancy at the International Longevity Centre UK, we aspire to own larger houses to accommodate guests, hobbies and entertainment. Homes are certainly an emotional investment, synonymous with families, social roots and the source of memories for children and young adults.

These intangible factors, relating to deep rooted feelings of security and connection, is what makes quantification of space standards so hard.

As the makeup of the UK population alters, we may see values and feelings cause alteration in the way space is distributed between people. It is likely, with people enjoying longer lives, that retired members of the population will remain in large detached houses which were most popular in the 1990s. Being settled, they are less likely to want to move while enjoying the space to entertain their grand children. This will confine smaller apartment sized homes to the younger population. Thus, we see how the way we feel about space impacts how different generations can access and use it.

Considerations in the future

We feel our examination of different variables affecting space standards has shown that, in defining space, three perspectives should be considered: planners, builders and buyers who all have a different set of priorities. This should be reconciled with a variety of quantitative and qualitative research on space standards.

We would welcome your input to help develop these ideas on measurement, so please feel free to post your comments below.

The human element

Recently we have been thinking about how space standards are measured; now we consider the role of people who use the space.

Spatial needs remain a controversial issue and hard to quantify. The Parker Morris Standards Guide, defined in 1961, is often used as a starting point for measuring. However, this guide has its limitations, evidenced by bodies such as English Partnerships, which introduced minimum space standards to its land in 2008 that are 10 per cent higher than Parker Morris’.

Ultimately the human condition dictates that people want more space than implied by minimum space standards. At the same time, wants and desires change and evolve. Changing trends of interior design reflect this, since we have witnessed in recent years a change in unit mix, with the ensuite, utility room and cloakroom having risen in importance.

This equates to a decrease in space, but ultimately generates a more desirable residence for homebuyers. Now we must think, how can space standards measurement resolve the fact that individual preference is more complex that minimum space standards suggest?

Inconsistencies in measurement of space standards

Statistically, the UK has been shown to build the smallest houses in Europe. However, we must remember the array of variables across the continent, such the housing mix requirements, demands on housing development placed through local planning and the absence of one EU wide management of space standards.

Housing statistics in the EU, taken from 2005-2006, show UK homes to be 4 square metres below average for the whole housing stock yet average area per person is amongst the largest. Measurement is obviously a challenge. Dwellings in the UK are usually measured by number of bedrooms, while other countries focus on ‘useable space’, which includes basements.

We must also consider how housing type has changed dramatically over time. Since 1990 we have seen the rise of the desirable detached, while more recently since 2005, the UK has witnessed an increased emphasis on apartment dwellings. Such changes affect measurement of the whole housing stock, with detached houses on average 75 per cent larger than the rest of the stock, while apartments are 25 per cent smaller than the rest of the stock.

With such inconsistencies across space and time, is it still fair to say that the UK builds the smallest homes in Europe?