need to know
How big does a house have to be?
One of the main grievances about modern, mass-market homes is that they’ve become smaller over the years. As developers look to maximise their returns from expensive land costs, houses get crammed into ever tighter plots. These dwellings will have all the things that the focus groups have demanded – four bedrooms, an ensuite and nice kitchen worktops – but all packed into a tiny space. A typical three bed, semi-detached new build will have an internal floor area of around 90m². That is pretty compact, but people will still go ahead and buy them, particularly in the city.