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I live in America and my wife's family is from the UK. We aren't rich by any means but we bought a small house last year and when her family flew in they kept c

I live in America and my wife's family is from the UK. We aren't rich by any means but we bought a small house last year and when her family flew in they kept commenting on how big our house was. Our house is about as small as you can get without living in a trailer. I'm a high school drop out and we each make less than the median nation income and I feel we are better off than if we lived in the UK. Though I admit life from 18 - 25 would have probably been less of a struggle there.

intended 10y ago
Whats the comparison of sizes like ? Really curious because if the next smaller house in size is a trailer then the UK sizes must be weirdly small.
- onion2k 10y ago
  Here in the UK houses are tiny compared to the USA, but it's really just because there's far less available land to build on. The entire UK is about half the size of California.
- TulliusCicero 10y ago
  Average home size in the UK is less than half that of the US: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house US @ 77 sq meters per capita vs UK @ 33 sq meters per capita.
  - jdietrich 10y ago
    The average new-build British home is 76 square metres; a typical single-wide mobile home ranges from 60 to 93 square metres. We're a crowded island, we have small houses.
    - dagw 10y ago
      We're a crowded island, we have small houses. The UK has a lower population density the than both Belgium and Holland, both of which have larger average houses than the UK. So there has to be more to it than simply being 'crowded'.
      - HarryHirsch 10y ago
        Haven't run the numbers, but the impression is that the South of England is much more densely populated. The majority of people lives south of the M62 and east of the M5/M6 highways. And then there's greenbelts to prevent the endless exurbanization.
        dagw 10y ago
        Good point. Greater London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Essex and Kent all have a higher population density than Holland, and between them count for a significant part of the UK population.
        mrow84 10y ago
        When you go north, and more generally away from population centres, the houses do seem to be quite a bit larger. There, of course, there are other limiting factors, most often wages.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
  - zelos 10y ago
    Yet in the equally crowded Netherlands, the average house size is much larger. Is it just the house building industry is really poor here in the UK?
    - elthran 10y ago
      Pretty much, yes.
    - 72deluxe 10y ago
      Yes, the new houses they build are effectively shoe-boxes. Where you see them clearing land and think "ah they'll put a house there", instead they build two.
jacquesm 10y ago
Now let's hope nobody gets ill.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  We both have health insurance, we make too much for Obamacare but we costed it out and we can afford for one of us to stop working if we had to.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    Excellent. Make sure you keep a sharp eye on that and the future developments, this is one of those little things that can really ruin your life. It's bad enough to have a serious health issue, if it gets compounded by a financial crisis then you can go from 'ok' to 'really bad' in a surprisingly short time when there is no safety net.
    - anamoulous 10y ago
      What gives you the right to be so imperious about this?
      - jacquesm 10y ago
        I think you are mis-understanding what I wrote. Having seen a couple of lives of states-side friends ruined by what would have been minor (but still serious from a medical perspective) issues in Europe I'm all too aware of the differences in the various health-care solutions. I've also lived in enough places with various levels of health-care and insurance (and lack of insurance) to see this as a potential problem. So, instead of reading imperiousness, how about worry?
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      We keep one years expenses at all times as well as our mortgage payment is a little less than the cost of a two bedroom apartment so if a finical crisis hit that left us out on the street we would be there regardless. The problem with the housing crisis was people had variable rate mortgages that made their payments quickly balloon up under them. We have a fixed rate so that can't happen.

intended 10y ago

Whats the comparison of sizes like ? Really curious because if the next smaller house in size is a trailer then the UK sizes must be weirdly small.

onion2k 10y ago
Here in the UK houses are tiny compared to the USA, but it's really just because there's far less available land to build on. The entire UK is about half the size of California.
TulliusCicero 10y ago
Average home size in the UK is less than half that of the US: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house US @ 77 sq meters per capita vs UK @ 33 sq meters per capita.
- jdietrich 10y ago
  The average new-build British home is 76 square metres; a typical single-wide mobile home ranges from 60 to 93 square metres. We're a crowded island, we have small houses.
  - dagw 10y ago
    We're a crowded island, we have small houses. The UK has a lower population density the than both Belgium and Holland, both of which have larger average houses than the UK. So there has to be more to it than simply being 'crowded'.
    - HarryHirsch 10y ago
      Haven't run the numbers, but the impression is that the South of England is much more densely populated. The majority of people lives south of the M62 and east of the M5/M6 highways. And then there's greenbelts to prevent the endless exurbanization.
      - dagw 10y ago
        Good point. Greater London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Essex and Kent all have a higher population density than Holland, and between them count for a significant part of the UK population.
        mrow84 10y ago
        When you go north, and more generally away from population centres, the houses do seem to be quite a bit larger. There, of course, there are other limiting factors, most often wages.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- zelos 10y ago
  Yet in the equally crowded Netherlands, the average house size is much larger. Is it just the house building industry is really poor here in the UK?
  - elthran 10y ago
    Pretty much, yes.
  - 72deluxe 10y ago
    Yes, the new houses they build are effectively shoe-boxes. Where you see them clearing land and think "ah they'll put a house there", instead they build two.

jacquesm 10y ago

Now let's hope nobody gets ill.

cmdrfred 10y ago
We both have health insurance, we make too much for Obamacare but we costed it out and we can afford for one of us to stop working if we had to.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  Excellent. Make sure you keep a sharp eye on that and the future developments, this is one of those little things that can really ruin your life. It's bad enough to have a serious health issue, if it gets compounded by a financial crisis then you can go from 'ok' to 'really bad' in a surprisingly short time when there is no safety net.
  - anamoulous 10y ago
    What gives you the right to be so imperious about this?
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      I think you are mis-understanding what I wrote. Having seen a couple of lives of states-side friends ruined by what would have been minor (but still serious from a medical perspective) issues in Europe I'm all too aware of the differences in the various health-care solutions. I've also lived in enough places with various levels of health-care and insurance (and lack of insurance) to see this as a potential problem. So, instead of reading imperiousness, how about worry?
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    We keep one years expenses at all times as well as our mortgage payment is a little less than the cost of a two bedroom apartment so if a finical crisis hit that left us out on the street we would be there regardless. The problem with the housing crisis was people had variable rate mortgages that made their payments quickly balloon up under them. We have a fixed rate so that can't happen.