RIBA Research
To help consumers and the housebuilding industry get HomeWise, the RIBA is undertaking research. Our aim is to understand the types of homes needed for modern and future lifestyles and households, and whether new homes need to be better.
The way we live now:
What people need and expect from their homes
The RIBA Ipsos MORI report 'The way we live now: What people need and expect from their homes' is a ground-breaking piece of research that provides the only national evidence base setting out how people are using their homes now, what they look for when choosing a home and what they think needs to happen to improve the home-buying experience.
The report, the first of its kind for over 50 years, will be used as evidence by the Future Homes Commission, a national inquiry that is currently developing recommendations for how houses should be designed and delivered in future. It will provide policy makers, house designers and builders much-needed consumer evidence to ensure that new homes are good quality and fit for modern households.
View and download the way we live now:
The Case for Space
The Case for Space is the RIBA's first research paper for HomeWise. In it we assess the internal floor area of homes on a sample of sites by England's eight largest volume housebuilders. We compare our findings to the Greater London Authority's space standards to benchmark good practice. The paper also analyses past research into what adequate space in the home means, and how it impacts upon our lives.
Based on our sample, the average new home in England is only 92% of the recommended minimum size. The average three bedroom home from our sample was 88m² this is 8m² short of the recommended minimum floor area for a two storey, three bedroom home for five residents (96 sqm).
8m² is equivalent of a single bedroom and the furniture you'd expect to fit comfortably within it. It's the space for a new arrival to the family, the space that means the kids have a room of their own, or a spare room for a guest to stay over. It's the space that could take the kitchen out of the lounge and the sounds and smells that go with it.
View and download The Case for Space: