How Big Does a New-Build House Need To Be?

Knowing what will sell in an area should define the size of the house you’re building. Understand the market conditions and the rest will follow. Today, Grant and Amy discuss how trends form in the housing market, what drives them and how they influence decisions in residential planning.

Property Expert Series: Grant Erskine From Grant Erskine Architects

• Part 1: Introducing Grant Erskine from Grant Erskine Architects
• Part 2: What Are Grant Erskine Architects Currently Working On?
• Part 3: Grant Erskine’s Biggest Property Development Success
• Part 4: Tips For Property Developers
• Part 5: What Has Been Your Biggest Mistake In The Property Business?
• Part 6: How Will The Construction Sector Change Over The Next 5 Years?
• Part 7: What Could Councils Be Doing To Address The Housing Crisis In 2018?
• Part 8: What Are Modular Buildings and What Do They Mean for Investors?
• Part 9: If You Had to Choose One Investment Strategy Which Would You Choose?
• Part 10: How is Co-Living Disrupting the UK Property Market?
• Part 11: How Big Does a New-Build Apartment Need To Be?
• Part 12: How Big Does a New-Build House Need To Be?
• Part 13: What Size of Development Project Should Investors be Looking At?
• Part 14: What National Guidelines for Room Sizes Do Developers Need to Consider?
• Part 15: What do Investors Need to Know About Fire Safety?

How Big Does an Apartment Need to Be?

Amy: What’s the ideal square-metre size for a new-build house, let’s say?

Grant: It is very much market-led.

So, if you’re in an area where there are starter homes and young professionals, you cater to that market.

You can almost see the trends happening with how people move areas. Not everyone is the same but there are trends.

So, a couple moves in together and then they get married and buy their first home. They have their first child and then. We joke about it but it’s true. You can almost see these steps in people’s lives, based on their income, based on how much they can afford to spend.

My wife and I bought our first house, then we had a kid and we wanted to move to a better area. Then we had our second kid and we will stay in that house for now. But we know, as our kids get a little bit bigger, they’ll need more space and then we’ll have to move again, to a bigger house.

There are these bands. The first house might cost around £120,000. The second house might be from 120k to 220k. Then the third house might jump you up the 300k mark.

You can see these demographics moving around. So, if you understand your market, you can define the size of your house.

You can make a really nice, compact, two-bed house in the region of 900 square feet, 90 square metres. You can even get them smaller. We’ve done them right down to the mid 7 hundred range.

But if your market, your area, is the 300k house market your demographic is likely to be husband and wife, maybe two-point-four kids. The kids will be high school age.

A family like this will want things like a utility room, the master bedroom with an en-suite, walk-in wardrobe, the double garage, perhaps a sunroom, an extra reception room.

The kids will all need to have decent-sized, double rooms.

When you understand what the market wants in an area, that will define the size which in this example will be around 2,000 square foot, or so.

So, it’s understanding what you can sell in that area, that will define the size your new build house.

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