Would you consider a new build?

Aye. Timber is such a short life span material in buildings.

I rather suspect that there is timber, and there is timber. Just like I have "wooden" desks from Ikea.

I would never buy a New Build for two reasons:

Everyone that I know who has bought one has had big issues, ranging from walls peeling apart to the whole roof needing to be replaced, and all have vowed to never buy another one.
2 years ago I spent a few weeks delivering facias, guttering and soffits to building site all over South Wales and the West. This usually involved lengthy waits for the fork driver to come and unload me which gave me plenty of time to snoop around and chat to the various trades. The amount of dodgy workmanship, cutting corners and poor management I saw was more than enough to put me off ever owning one. Some of the sites were charging £5-600k for the crap they were slapping up.

There is a new build estate that is being built on the edge of Skipton at the moment. It is on a really steep plot that runs right down towards the river which has just had flood defences erected. They’ve had to put in loads of stone and metal to create a wall to stop the estate sliding into the river I presume. Either way it looks precarious. I just wonder what they’ll be like in 50 years time.

I know nothing about building houses but it always amazes me how quickly the new builds go up. Surely that is not a good thing.

Surveyors definition of parking is interesting, my bungalow has a garage which you obviously have to drive in and out of, and a parking space in front, but not in the way of garage access.

Surveyors report quotes, ample off street parking for 4-5 cars.  It must be true, but they would all be bumper to bumper, side by side, and small.

id have a new house

id not have one on a new estate layout.

Pretty much this. My (1920's build) house is objectively a bit crap. I'd trade it in a heartbeat for a nice dry well-insulated new house.

I'd not trade my shed and my space/privacy/location though, and I'm not going to get a new build with any of those things - well, not on my budget anyway.

I think with new builds unless it's a posh commission or a very small development you get a plasterboard and timber box built in the shortest possible time by the cheapest possible labour. Doesn't matter how 'Executive' or 'Prestige' the sign outside the showhome says it is. I'm watching loads go up on a fairly posh development near me and the contractors don't give a [edited]. That said we lived in one for six years and apart from being small and flimsy it was OK. Built just before help to buy came out. Oddly enough once they started selling them like hot cakes the quality nosedived. I guess they're like Land Rovers. They look nice but who knows what's about to go wrong 🤣

My thoughts:

1. Why is the house purchase competition process not changed. Eg. You get Murphy to carry out his survey and then you'complete' depending on your satisfaction?!

2. I've never seen any of his videos venture into the building performance. With the new building regs increased to (whatever) near passive house means, I'd think his business should be expanding to pressure testing and thermal imaging to check the structural integrity.

Clearly building control aren't checking the new airtight limits are being adhered to, so just more insulation materials added to the spreadsheet and overall cost with only minimal benefit.

These would be my stipulations if I were to consider a new build. I don't think I would be entertained.....

Give me new build anyday, but not one built by some Alan Sugar wannabe.

I like the fact that there are different tastes, and plenty of folk are happy to spend big money to live in old houses with character.  Character looks best from the outside, so I get to enjoy it without living with the damp and dark rooms that go with it.

I re3cently worked in an old mill, complete with non turning water wheel on the side of it.  I've driven  past it a million times and love the way it looks.  Inside though, it's a thoroughly depressing space, just horrible.  Dark, fusty and terrible layout.  Listed though, so no easy way to improve it.

Similarly, I love spending the weekend in a fifth floor flat on the Royal mile in Edinburgh.  Lovely high ceilings and airy feel, in summer at least.  But those two big window frames with the mushy wood?  I don't want to be the guy getting quotes to sort that out...

New build developer houses are invariably thrown up in the shoddiest way they can get away with.  Bang in a Neff hob and a Grohe shower and you've got yourself a 'luxury' house.  I've spent the last two days working in a brand new one in Aviemore.  It's nice, but even at a glance there's plenty evidence of a real lack of decent workmanship.  Beyond first glance, take a wander around with a 1200 level and a square, and it's all over the place.  Still, that's what filler and silicone is for 🙂

I have had random customers in to work reporting the following.
Front door just stuck in with crazy foam
Windows which you could see daylight between the wall and frame
Waste trap missing from bathroom sink
Shower head holder missing
Wiring run in a void above a window
Outside tap connection to the hot supply
No insulation in walls
Watching workman carrying loft insulation from a sold new build being moved to the next one.

I've/We've rented & owned a number of new (or within a year or two) builds and for me it's like buying a new/nearly-new car, you know what you're getting, what'll it deliver and the 'protections' you'll have.  Yes, it'll be overlooked and unless you're paying big money (for the area). will have a smaller garden etc - but so do Victorian terraces.

With older houses, there's a fair bit of guess-work and until you start removing stuff you've no idea what you'll find - our place is about 200 years old.  Recently we had the bathroom ripped out and renewed, local firm (so use to older properties) quoted 1-1.5 weeks, took 2.5 weeks.  Lots of head-scratching, especially trying to connect the sewage-side as of course everything was a non-standard size.  Also ended up going back to the stone walls as the insulation was knackered and vermin eaten (polystyrene), so replaced with modern sheets.

When the kids were young and money & time were tight, a new house meant cheap bills and next-to-no maintenance.

Big building firms have in house building control , so can self certify that a new build meets regs.
They are not built to passive Haus spec . For example , they won't use special glass insulation block on the lowermost course as they cost 10x what a celcon block does . Won't be triple glazed , won't have heat recovery mvhr installation, won't have ashp , probably won't have ufh , will be plumbed on plastic microbore central heating.
Making a retro fit ashp problematic.

Everything was a new build once….

I think the point is that anyone living in a 15th century house now is living in the old manor/farm/gate/blacksmiths house. Not the wattle and daub hovels thrown up on the edge of town by barely skilled labour with barely enough parking for 2 horses as long as one is a shetland pony and you don't mind the noise from the drovers road at rush hour.

The snobs are gloating over their perfect character filled cottages, meanwhile people buy what they can get if they are lucky enough to be able to.

I think it's more lamenting the lack of either better mandated building standards, or a market for them. Obviously no everyone can have a 300 year old house, the populations exploded since then and most of them fell down 200 years ago.

It's an ongoing problem, there's houses built in the 50/60's from sectional concrete that are no longer mortgageable so it's not snobbish, just worryingly pragmatic if people look at houses and think if it'll still be viable in 50-75 years time.

so what actually 'is' a new build these days ?

We bought ours brand new 21 years ago.  It was of mediocre quality, in a premium area with a premium price tag.  Over the 2 decades we have done a loft conversion, replaced the bathrooms and kitchen(twice, long story..), replaced windows and doors (last year), replaced the boiler, landscaped and decked the gardens, changed all the lights to LED spots, shelved out garage etc etc.

So all of these elements are better by a mile than the original, but it's still the same not very good block and brick construction, same cheap roof (though better supported due loft conversion, steelwork etc), crappy narrow gauge plastic heating pipes that drop down behind the walls as we have concrete floors (and often get cold spots on rads due to them furring up/being kinked to start with).

Is this still a new build ?  if we were selling it'd be marketed as a modern 21 yr old detached house etc

@singletrackmind. Your points are not direct examples of passive house.

The key performance test is airtightness, which part L is supposed to improve (let's forget the use of the words passive house).

As Murphy says, if the ' Winkel Spanners ' cannot fit windows, stairs etc properly, what chance have you that the thermal envelope of the building is to standard. I would guess - none.

Google search - All dwellings will need to be pressure tested for air tightness. The new maximum target for air tightness is <8m3/(h·m2)@50Pa, which is a 2-point reduction from the current maximum of 10. This is going to drop again to <5m3/(h·m2)@50Pa when The Future Homes and Buildings Standard comes into full effect in 2025.

We bought new 26 years ago and are still here. Was actually well made - not had many issues other than initial snagging, which were fixed. Was done by a small local company rather than a group. 

Fortunately, we haven't had all the usual shortfalls of a new house these days - i.e. no space. The rear garden isn't big, but we have a decent side garden (3 x the size of the back, and a front too. Space for detached garage, large shed and a green house. It's also no-where near a flood area being up a hill - Cheshire would flood before we did.

Main issues were there was nothing when we moved in - it's a shell, so you've got to put up batons for curtain rails, no garden as such (front and side were lawn) 

My sister bought a new four bed detached. Husband builds houses (site manager) but they have very little space. Just a walkway between each house, parking for two cars on a narrow street - These are family houses, so many of the 'kids' have cars and parking is a nightmare. Just cars dumped everywhere, and, of course, parking 'wars'.

oogle search – All dwellings will need to be pressure tested for air tightness. The new maximum target for air tightness is <8m3/(h·m2)@50Pa, which is a 2-point reduction from the current maximum of 10. This is going to drop again to <5m3/(h·m2)@50Pa when The Future Homes and Buildings Standard comes into full effect in 2025.

and what is the current standard test process . Right now you might be lucky and get the one thats built to demonstrate the design concept can pass the test ..... equally -you might not.

These are family houses, so many of the ‘kids’ have cars and parking is a nightmare. Just cars dumped everywhere, and, of course, parking ‘wars’.

That's not really a new build issue though, it's a density issue, and that can also be an issue with old houses. Are you getting "new" mixed up with "bad design"?

Plenty of parking wars on streets of Victorian terraces.

This thread is depressing.

The snobs are gloating over their perfect character filled cottages, meanwhile people buy what they can get if they are lucky enough to be able to.

Are they? IME - new builds are often more expensive than older houses. You can buy a decent 2 bed terrace in my village for less than £150k, all the new builds for houses of that size are knocking on £200k +.

@trail_rat

That's my point!

Efficiency increases are sold on paper. Unless you test, you don't know if the thermal envelope is sufficient to match the spec.

When we moved into our Passive Haus in Germany, they came along with a door seal kit with a fan in it. The property was then pressurised and left to measure it's losses. It passed to PH standards (which are massively higher than UK BS) and a certificate used.

Not difficult, but Is it being carried out? No

I work in a safety critical industry and if you were called to sign off work that was shocking on the surface, you'd be asking many many questions about the important things that you couldn't see! Performance testing is the only way to test after a product is completed and we don't do it, even when it's regulated!

Meanwhile, the period features look beautiful 😂

Airtightness is just 1 aspect that will impact how a house performs. The new building regs are a mile away from airtightness required in a passive house. From my experience most architects and pretty much all builders don’t understand concepts like thermal bridging and thermal bypass fully. When someone says a house has passive house levels of insulation it shows they have no clue. The insulation performance  required is dependent on location, orientation, altitude, form factor, glazing positioning etc etc etc. pretty much all of the passive house part is taken into account at the design stage. Followed up by confirming that the house is built as designed to the required standard. I am visiting another ‘we were told it’s a passive house’ next week. They have cold bedrooms and condensation problems in a brand new house. In most cases if it’s not certified it is marketing bs.

......with the amount of smelly farts that our teenage sons produce I'm not to fussed about air tightness in our 'new build'...  🙂  Often need to open a window to refresh the air !

The guy I use for air pressure testing told me a few weeks ago that he has had to do final airtightness tests for a large house builder straight after first fix. This had been approved by building control.

do final airtightness tests for a large house builder straight after first fix. 

im guessing lots of gaffer tape and polythene was involved in that pass....

Yep. We did. Previous house was a 120 year old victorian terrace in bristol. Lovely character but by god it lost heat through windows and floorboards. Had a few damp issues as well. Moved to wales (during covid) on a very small new build in a small village. 16 houses built by a local developer.

Everyone took a bit of a punt as they were bought without seeing a single house fully built and there was no show home. Got to say we were impressed with the build. Built to a high standard, very few snags - which they sorted out promptly. The best bit was it was built in a national park and the building plans wouldn't allow lots of houses on the plot. so the talk of small gardens isnt always true. We ended up with a 1000sqm garden out the back (very very unusual)

so the talk of small gardens isnt always true.

Well no, of course, it isn't going to be the case that every single new house will have a small garden but the vast majority of the crap that is being thrown up at the moment is crap inside and out, with only vast profits being of a concern to the developers. For example, two new developments near me are trying to change the approved plans as they aren't economically viable. In one case they want to remove all the affordable housing and in the other they want to remove the playing fields and sports facilities so they can make way for more 3-4 bed 'executive' detached houses with space for one BMW out front and one small Wendy House in the garden. &%*&ing scumbags, the lot of them.

Been in our new build about 6 years.

it’s been mint. 3 bedroom semi detached town house. Drive for 2 cars. Garage. Not a bad size garden.

it is in a massive housing estate, but we live on a ‘row’. So no through road, 5 other houses and in front of us is a huge oak tree and the ‘central green’. No one out back due to a parking area.

you wouldn’t really know you were on a big estate. Having said that, I wouldn’t be so keen living elsewhere on the estate, as it did very… housing estate.

the estate comprised of Taylor wimpey, persimmon and Bovis house (ours is Bovis).

when looking you got more persimmon house for your money, but they are timber frame and felt cheap. TW and Bovis felt the same, but we liked the design and location of the Bovis so went with that.

the house itself is well set out, with kitchen diner and utility/toilet on ground floor.

lounge, bathroom and bedroom on middle. And master bedroom, en-suite and final bedroom on top floor.

clean living space.

no issues in the time we have been in. A couple of minor snags when we moved in, but all got sorted.

I wonder with ‘better’ older houses how much work they have received over the years. As I suspect they aren’t in their original state. And have had continual improvements over their life…. Much like a new build could and would receive in the same time frame.

but it’s different strokes for different folks!

I lived in a new build flat for over a decade, and for the time of my life it was pretty ideal really. Zero maintenance required, easy to live in, and never ever had to turn the heating on. It did however come with the fun of leasehold/ground rent/service charge/management company (even if the freeholder was a Housing Association rather than some random BVI based holding company), which if applicable, is what would put be me off a new build the most. Build quality is I suspect widely variable, and while I'd also think twice about buying a house off the big four a smaller builder that I was able to keep a close eye on would be all good I think.

These days I'm in a (very) recently extended Victoria semi, which is a mix of new build perks (nice new windows throughout for example) and Victorian-age building problems (not that much in the way of parking, and a few single skin walls remaining). Freehold though, which no joke is probably one of the biggest quality of life improvements.

I'd like to spend a bunch of money modernising it in the direction of Passivehaus standards. I doubt I'd ever get there without basically tearing it down and starting again, but I'm sure things could be done.

Are they? IME – new builds are often more expensive than older houses. You can buy a decent 2 bed terrace in my village for less than £150k, all the new builds for houses of that size are knocking on £200k +.

Not where I am. We paid £320k for a 4 bed detached with a garage and large garden. 3 bathrooms, 4 proper full sized double bedrooms. Huge dining kitchen.

Just had a look at Rightmove for older properties in that price range near me.

Maximum of 3 bedrooms

Most are semi detached

1 bathroom

All of them would need substantially upgrading to at least one room

I wonder with ‘better’ older houses how much work they have received over the years. As I suspect they aren’t in their original state. And have had continual improvements over their life…. Much like a new build could and would receive in the same time frame.

Most older houses probably didn't have an indoor toilet at the time, so yeah probably!  The area I live was pretty deprived for a long time - these houses didn't get much TLC. A friend pulled up the floorboards on his Victorian terrace and found the living room floor was held up with a few car jacks!

So yeah, you'd think that even the places with a lot of snags would have most of that sorted out in time. And as technology/living changes, some of the stuff that seems an issue now (parking?) may not be as relevant in 50 years time

Something else to be wary of with new build estates, there's a site locally (approx 400 houses) 1st stage completed and new owners moved in, builder has gone bust part way through 2nd stage leaving several dozen houses in various stages of build. That's a few hundred families who've paid a lot of money to live on a permanent building site. I should imagine you can forget your snagging list/warranty too.

^^^ bb, what's the situation with the paths out the back in K Woodlands these days ?  Haven't been round with the dog for a few months, they have become very 'anti -dog'... so tend to give it a miss as can't let off the lead etc

There are very few actually old houses where I live.  There are lots of 3 bed Edwardian terraces, with some 4s - some rough areas, some nice.  Many of the smaller ones are lovely, I looked at these before we had kids, but they would have been a bit trickier with a family.  The nice ones are very expensive, of course they are.  And none have parking.

There's no doubt that the standard of work is better on 100+ year old houses than a modern new build.  BUT that does not necessarily make it a better house.  I lived in a grand Victorian terrace (it was a shared house) in Didsbury for a while - the walls were so thin you could not only hear next door talking at normal volume you could actually follow conversations. My 'crap' new build has almost no noise from next door.  The only thing I can hear is the washing machine on spin if I am in my own kitchen.

Absolutely not. One of my friends is a senior buyer for a expensive home builder, but did his time before working for various house bashers & the stories I have heard would put me off even going to dinner in one, let alone shelling out some serious money to own it.

Also, housing estates are horrible places.

I would build a new house to my specification though. It would probably be financially ruinous however.

Not where I am. We paid £320k for a 4 bed detached with a garage and large garden. 3 bathrooms, 4 proper full sized double bedrooms. Huge dining kitchen.

Where do you live? 1998?

Where do you live? 1998?

In the greater Glasgow area

8 years into our new build and generally happy. Plus points are the insulation and dual zone central heating. Bad points are the poor materials used e.g. windows, interior doors and front door. We've replaced our bedroom windows which has made a massive difference to the road and train noise and will probably get a decent front door followed by replacing the interior doors. Best thing is the location which is pretty much the most important factor for most people.

^^^ bb, what’s the situation with the paths out the back in K Woodlands these days ?  Haven’t been round with the dog for a few months, they have become very ‘anti -dog’… so tend to give it a miss as can’t let off the lead etc

Path is finally opened! Nice to have direct access into the woods.

I'm still in there with the dog 3 times a day and I reckon something's happened with the volunteers as they appear to have downed tools. There's been no maintenance or upkeep in the place for months. Wednesday used to be the day that they were all out tidying up the place and doing work but that's completely stopped.

The particularly militant one who was the most pro-active at blocking the path has completely disappeared. I also see they've downsized the usual halloween event this year due to lack of funds.

I suspect there's been a wee bit of infighting and a lot of them have quit. Wouldn't be surprised if it was over the path. I ended up getting the access officer involved and that seemed to put them in their place.

unless you're a multi-millionaire all houses are probably a compromise of some sort! And of course everyone has different priorities. That said I've never seen a new(ish) build that didn't have at least one tick on my "deal breaker" list, normally around outside space/proximity to neighbours/privacy but others such as

the road and train noise

or

Glasgow

I don't live in an immaculate 18th century cottage (I mean, the Aga is electric, not gas) and it's not being snobby to lament the fact that a lot of new UK housing is unimaginative sprawl buult to low standards with poor transport and sold at a high price.

Having said that, I would buy a new build if the construction looked okay and I could hire a surveyor (or whoever) to ruthlessly snag the place during the warranty period.

I would never ever buy a new build in "holiday" destinations like Turkey or the UAE.

There’s no doubt that the standard of work is better on 100+ year old houses than a modern new build. 

Mostly yes, but also the crap ones have been demolished and the rest have had a century to fix the defects!

We bought a new build and lived there 2015-2020. Snagging list was surprisingly short. Maybe because it was a 3 story town house and next door was the show home so it was one of the first built, right at the front ofn the estate. Fundamentally not problems. When we looked to move in 2020 we looked at other new builds, but one of the main things that stopped us was this:

I would not buy anything that came with ground rent or charges to management company.
Is it the case that on many “estates” the roads aren’t adopted by the local council?

The estate we were on, the roads were adopted by the council, but all other public spaces were managed by an estate management firm (Firstport in this case). Cost was about £15-20 a month to basically cut some grass on the public areas and maintain the underwhelming play park. But, if you read deep in to ther terms and conditions, if you didn't pay they could take you to court and ultimately reposses your home in a very extreme case. This is all obviously glossed over by the salespeople when you sign up and agree to it. So, the house is sold as freehold, but you can not sell without paying for an approval pack from Firstport to say you don't owe them anything. Not sure how that is true freehold?
There is very little regulation as to how much they can charge and you just have to suck it up because they have big corporate lawyers and you're just the little man.
In addition to all that polava the new builds we were looking at only has one fibre supplier available. Unsurprisingly that fibre supplier is owned by the same company as the builder.

We're now in a 1970's semi which we have extended to the size we need. Nice mature gardens, hardly any on street parking because the drives are big enough and there's a lot of bungalows around with only one car.

I'd have one, but it wouldn't be on an estate and would be a steel framed building with a back wall of artisan stone and acres of glass units with smart tint hung off it and shuttering over it that can hydraulically raised to create external shading to sit under.

Preferably on a lake or slight mountainside.

BoardinBobFull Member

Path is finally opened! Nice to have direct access into the woods.

I’m still in there with the dog 3 times a day and I reckon something’s happened with the volunteers as they appear to have downed tools. There’s been no maintenance or upkeep in the place for months. Wednesday used to be the day that they were all out tidying up the place and doing work but that’s completely stopped.

The particularly militant one who was the most pro-active at blocking the path has completely disappeared. I also see they’ve downsized the usual halloween event this year due to lack of funds.

I suspect there’s been a wee bit of infighting and a lot of them have quit. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was over the path. I ended up getting the access officer involved and that seemed to put them in their place.
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good to know, thanks

I live very close to Darwin Green, where in June the developers admitted 36 new builds would have to be demolished and that number has now grown to 83. I’ve not seen or heard the details of what has gone on there, but I wouldn’t trust a new build house built under the regulatory system where it feels like luck that those issues were caught.

The estate we were on, the roads were adopted by the council, but all other public spaces were managed by an estate management firm (Firstport in this case). Cost was about £15-20 a month to basically cut some grass on the public areas and maintain the underwhelming play park. 

been quite a number of those up here where the cost is capped for 3-5 years then is ramped up at X% per year with no Cap etc.

so after 20+ years it can end up being quite the number

Ouch!

Looking at the photo, many are 3 story, like a lot of newbuilds you see now. What's the thinking - is it just about the smaller footprint?  (which seems sensible enough to me). Or is there another general design trend I'm missing?

many are 3 story, like a lot of newbuilds you see now. What’s the thinking – is it just about the smaller footprint?

There's some on the new-build estate they're building near me at the moment. 4 bedroom, small garden, carport (not even a garage! although at least there's 1 off-street space I guess) for £640k 😂 Meanwhile just down the road a 90s 4-bed detached in a quiet cul-de-sac with a big garden can be had for £125k less. Who said new-builds were cheap again??

Who said new-builds were cheap again??

Did anyone say that? My main beef with them is that they're usually overpriced.

Nowt wrong with maximising interior space with three storeys though, that's a good idea IMO.

Went looking for a new build originally as i didn't want to do a big DIY project again, so looked around and they were all frankly horrible.  I know this has been posted but yes the professional snagging companies like this one https://www.instagram.com/new_home_quality_control/?hl=en   will always find stuff, but it does show that the industry is under so much pressure that corners are cut everywhere.

I eventually bought an old 1930's bungalow and did exactly what i said i didnt want to do and knock it down and build a beamoth of a building that i actually dont like -go figure..  Older properties have soo much more character and a feeling of home - cant wait to get rid of mine.

There’s some on the new-build estate they’re building near me at the moment. 4 bedroom, small garden, carport (not even a garage! although at least there’s 1 off-street space I guess) for £640k 😂 Meanwhile just down the road a 90s 4-bed detached in a quiet cul-de-sac with a big garden can be had for £125k less. Who said new-builds were cheap again??

Well it's all relative isn't it? I paid much less than your '£125k less' house for 4 beds, garage, and a decent back garden. And looking on rightmove, there's plenty of older 4 bed houses around here for not that much less than the equivalent new build, which is realistic to me. As all the above posts have stated, depends what you want.

In Germany you buy houses based on the M2, not the amount of bedrooms.

Makes a lot of sense.

ButtonMoon
Full Member
In Germany you buy houses based on the M2, not the amount of bedrooms.

Makes a lot of sense.

That makes sense with an American style house where it's a few hours work to move a stud and plasterboard wall, but maybe less so with a brick/block built house. If you're a family with a teenage boy and girl then you're going want 3 bedrooms so that becomes the search metric. Although it would be good to start getting used to m² so that people realise how good/bad certain houses are.

Had three new builds over 18 years in the same village then moved to a Victorian house that had a modern extension added by the last owners. All three new houses were fine. The first built to a very high standard, the second two slightly less so (small local company was taken over by a national between first and second house). No major issues with any of them. By contrast we’ve just had our FIFTH water leak in this Victorian house that needs another room redecorated. All in the extension. Never tile a toilet cistern into a wall without access!

I would happily buy another new build. 

If you’re a family with a teenage boy and girl then you’re going want 3 bedrooms

I’ve noticed recently that more houses are being sold as (say) four bedrooms, but the forth bedroom is downstairs and where the living room would normally be…

It's an interesting point. Ours was sold as a 5 bedroom or 4 bedroom and an office. Smallest room is used as an office as I WFH. Could get a single bed in here or a cot for a baby but not massive. Saw the same style of house being sold as a 6 bedroom house as they classified the dining/family room as a bedroom. Living space would be a bit tight for 7 people!

Maybe future proofing where the new regs are proposed to include rules on adaptability for an ageing population.

I’ve noticed recently that more houses are being sold as (say) four bedrooms, but the forth bedroom is downstairs and where the living room would normally be

The student house dynamic!

Although it would be good to start getting used to m² s

Homereports all list the measurement of the house.....

What do you mean outside Scotland the buyer get the report AFTER they have viewed.