The UK average family home is now 2% smaller than it was ten years ago.
A recent report from the insurer LV, says the average family home has ‘fundamentally changed’ in recent years as houses have become smaller. The report states the average UK home, including both old and new-build properties, is 85sqm and has 5.2 rooms – with an average area of 16.3sqm per room. In comparison, the average new home in the UK is 76sqm with 4.8 rooms and an average area of just 15.8sqm per room.
The research has revealed that over the last 10 years the average family home has shrunk by two square metres, as more people ‘shoe-horn’ themselves into small new homes and unsuitable flats. The average UK family home is now just 96.8 square metres. The most common type of home for a family in England is still a semi-detached, three-bedroom house, but around one in ten families are now living in flats – a third of all flat-dwellers – and a 20% increase over five years.
John O’Roarke, managing director of LV home insurance says: “The average family home has changed dramatically in the last five years. More families are now living in flats and rented accommodation. Many families are now living with makeshift modifications that could be illegal and also unsafe. Building regulations are designed to ensure that home modifications are safe and we urge all those considering modifying their home to ensure any changes they are planning, meet regulation standards.”
