Builders face curbs on construction of 'rabbit hutch' homes

Housebuilders would be forced to construct homes with larger rooms under proposals to curb the proliferation of "rabbit-hutch" estates.

Don Foster, communities minister, will on Tuesday launch the space consultation, which will also promise to slash red tape for housebuilders.

Up to 90 housing standards could be scrapped, including requirements for rainwater harvesting in areas without water shortages and a stipulation for multiple phone lines in home offices.

Mr Foster told the Financial Times that most of the UK outside London had no regulations governing space standards.

Typical new homes in Britain have nearly halved in size over the last 80 years, making them the smallest in western Europe, as builders try to eke greater profits from their plots of land.

The average one-bedroom new-build home now offers space equivalent to a Tube carriage. Developers have been forced to deny the use of cut-size furniture and wall mirrors in their show homes to create the illusion of roominess.

The consultation on "minimum space standards" will be seen as the coalition's quid pro quo for fuelling a recovery in the housebuilding sector with its Help to Buy mortgage support scheme.

Bovis Homes on Monday saw its first half pre-tax profit rise almost one-fifth year-on-year to £18.6m amid rosier market sentiment, which has been boosted by the government support.

But the industry faces dissatisfaction from buyers who are put off by the size of many new homes. Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, said in March that families had been "trapped in rabbit hutch homes" due to density targets imposed by the previous Labour government, which stipulated that at least 30 homes must be built on every hectare of land.

In 1920, the average semi-detached new-build was four bedrooms and 1,647 sq ft, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA).

The equivalent now is just three bedrooms and 925 sq ft. Typical new terraced houses have, meanwhile, shrunk from three bedrooms and 1,020 sq ft to two bedrooms and 645sq ft.

Harry Rich, chief executive of RIBA, welcomed the review. "Our public research has repeatedly revealed that space in new homes is a major concern," he said. "Our surveys have revealed that 60 per cent of people who would not buy a new home said the small size of rooms was the most important reason."

David Ritchie, chief executive of Bovis, said his company had not had a lot of complaints from customers about the size of their houses. But he suggested planning restrictions were one reason for smaller home sizes.

"As home ownership becomes a wider ambition and land supply continues to be constrained, we are finding more innovative use of space," he said.

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