New build homes, are they shrinking?
The question of whether to purchase New Build housing over an existing property is something that I am asked about on a regular basis in my business, especially with the number of new build homes currently being built in and around the Amber Valley area. The question is usually regarding price and which is the better investment, however a new report by Zoopla has shown that price may not be the only factor to take into consideration.
According to Zoopla’s report New-build homes in the UK have shrunk in size by 20% during the past 40 years with some families now squeezing into properties that are a quarter of the size of a tennis court.
The research shows that modern homes have become smaller throughout every decade since the 1970s, with the typical newly-built property now averaging just 67.8 square metres.
It appears that on average the size of new-build homes has decreased by 4 sq m. since 2010 alone, according to research by LABC Warranty and that new build properties now have an average of just 2.6 bedrooms, down from 3.53 bedrooms in the 1970s.
With new build homes costing an average of £226,996, buyers are paying just under £3,396 per square metre.
The report also compared average property sizes across 20 major UK cities and found that the average size of a home varied by as much as 10 square metres depending on location, which in some cases was equivalent to having an additional room.
The study showed that Sheffield has some of the smallest houses in the UK, averaging just 61 square metres in size, whilst it is also the only city in which every room is among the top 10 smallest for its type.
It is followed by Southampton, Bristol, Glasgow, Newcastle and Nottingham where homes average around 65 square metres in size. Whilst Cambridge boasts the largest properties at nearly 72 square meters in size, with Oxford, Birmingham, Bournemouth and Belfast making up the top five.