hudd

elfman

These are boom time built houses and they are tiny. Also anywhere that is an hour from London is going to be built on premium land.
We looked at quite a few new houses when we returned to England.
We could not get our furniture in we took to Canada (had a large Edwardian house in Suffolk before moving to Canada).

Last year were brought a 1970's house as its double the size of a new house.
It has decent sized room i.e Lounge 23 x 13 ft , Master bedroom 22 x 13 ft.

Older house tend to be on bigger plots, so gives you opportunity to extend.

We would not buy a modern box house. We have owned decent sized older/period houses in the past, which are a good buy if you want good sized rooms.

hudd

andreip

I guess I ll find out when ill get to bc

Flyingscottie

Agree it is definitely the NEW uk houses which are tiny, and squashed together!

I love the old houses in the UK, particularly as I live in a house thay was built in 1910, I know I will never have a 'period' property again.... but thats a sacrifice I am more than happy to make

hudd

Flyingscottie

We purchased a 1900's farmhouse built by a Scottish immigrant family in Ontario in 1999. It was a nice house made of brick and lots of character. The downside was that cost 4 times to heat and cool than the similar sized house we had owned in Suffolk.

I can remember watching a TV programme about architectural savage being big business in BC for renovating old homes. You can find older houses in some parts of Canada.

We also had a 2000 sqft "boom" house built in 1998 near Calgary and quality/construction was poor. Only lived there for 3 months after it was built.
Make sure you buy a well built house preferable not built by boom time Cowboys.

hudd

dboy

or manchester - mind you if vancouver has its way we may be living in oversized closets:


http://www.britishcolumbia.name/news...t-mini-suites/

Alan2005

Or bedsits as they should be known... 205sq foot - i've stayed in hotels with bigger rooms.

dboy

might make the affordability look better, if they become average aparments! Might as well live in a volkswagon van.

ann m

I think people forget this bit - at least a shoebox is cheaper to run (and clean, and maintain, blah, blah). So what if you can't get your sofa in

Ben W Bell

Average home in Japan or China makes UK homes seem palatial by comparison for the amount of space.

dboy

I do feel that we should be seriously looking at how big houses are built over here. There's a lot to be said for densification and smaller eco footprints. How much space does one really need? More to heat, clean, furnish, insure, etc. Moreover, smaller houses in better thought out communities closer to amenities and transit are better for aging boomers. As fuel costs rise and populations age, boomers would do well to trade down their monster houses. The burbs are great for families but what about aging populations, miles from hospitals, kids who live in the cities, etc not to mention how doable will the burbs be if average cost of fuel was to say double?

T-Pot

I don't care how big/small houses are in the UK - I still can't get a mortgage to buy one!

ann m

I wholeheartedly agree. (She says, writing from her 2000 sq ft single family home 30km from the city!!!! )

Jerseygirl

The houses may be larger in Canada but I'm always surprised how close together the new houses are built in the Toronto area. Canada has a vast amount of empty land but detached houses are almost touching each other.

dboy

Depends where. People say the same about Vancouver - but the reality is the geography often dictates land value and thus lot sizes - Vancouver's downtown for instance is boarded by mountains and Ocean - only way left is East. A standard lot in vancover proper is about 33 by 120 and on the west side would fetch around 700,000. The fact that Canada may be vast as little bearing on the limited land mass in certain areas.

Almost Canadian

This used to be illegal in England when I left, have things changed?