Do small rooms mean more money?
How many times have you switched on the television to catch an estate agent in one of the home shows proclaiming the golden estate agents rule of “more rooms equals more money”? In pursuit of this rule, properties are built with rooms crammed in to as small as space as possible. Typically new homes have a small bedroom barely large enough for a single bed let alone a wardrobe, all in the quest of more profit for the seller. This rule means that small to medium sized properties In the UK housing market, are sold on the basis of what is convenient for developers and estate agents, as opposed to what is good for the home buyer. This approach has resulted in large numbers of homes being totally inadequate in terms of space for socialising, playing, doing school homework or simply functioning as homes should do, which is all about living.
How big is your home?
The policy of selling homes by number of rooms, keeps homebuyers in the dark as to how big or small their home actually is and results in unusable spaces in homes. How often have you complained that the sofa won’t fit against that wall, or we have no space to entertain when our friends come around?
This is not the case in other countries, elsewhere the basis for buying or building homes is on the amount of floor area and not on the number of bedrooms. No wonder why surveys have found that the UK is the bottom of the polls when it comes to the smallest room size and that space needed by homeowners for everyday activities does not match the space provided by the market. The average size of a new home in the UK is less than ¾ the size of a typical Spanish or French new build and only about a 1/3 the size of an Australian or United States new home. Ladies, this is one area where bigger does mean better.
Extend your home to suit your lifestyle
Increasingly UK homeowners are demanding extra living space, but not necessary extra rooms. These people have a desire for living in a way that challenges Britain’s house price obsession, as well as the estate agents golden rule. Are these people risking their investment by going against the advice of the estate agent, or are they simply asking for a property that best suits their needs and lifestyle?
The Cedars in Fareham is a typical case in point. The owners are part of a growing trend of people who share the view of wanting to extend their home to create more space, but not wanting more rooms. The original house at 207m2 (2,228 square foot) which is smaller than an average new build in the States, is being extended to the rear by the addition of a single and 2 storey extension that will add a further 50m2 (538 square foot) of living space. The extension remodels the existing bland rear elevation adding space to existing rooms. As a result of the work, the kitchen, living room, guest bedroom and 2 bathrooms will all grow in size, at the same time the dining room is relocated to the front of the house in a larger area, all without adding a single extra room.
Whilst estate agents up and down the country might shudder at the thought of not adding rooms and will probably wince at the idea of having to use a calculator to work out floor areas rather than just counting the number of bedrooms, the owner of the Cedars is one savvy homeowner who knows his mind when it comes to how his family want to live.
Challenge your estate agent
Next time you decide to view a house for sale, ask the estate agent how big the house is, not how many bedrooms it has?