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Despite Americans' obsession with the English upper classes, that section of society (i.e. Downton Abbey-esque aristos lording it up in some vast mansion) has never comprised more than 1% of the population. Nowadays it would be even less - a tiny fraction of one percent of the nation's population - who actually live like that. Most of those vast stately homes are now open to the public as tourist attractions, or have been transformed into hotels or private schools or health clubs/spas. Even if they are still lived in - it's more likely to be by some American or Russian oligarch, trying to ape some of the imagined habits of the English upper class.
My point was actually about how much larger the homes were of average, relatively successful middle-class families were respectively in England and America. Particularly in the south east - even families of wealthy professionals, with incomes comfortably above £100k a year - live in small, semi detached homes. In the States they'd be living in a vast suburban pile of easy luxary for that kind of money.
The problem is, if the houses in the UK were bigger we really would be running out of countryside!
I think britinparis is confused - if you are earning 100k a year in the UK, you will definitely own a detached house of a decent size. Semis are 'average'. If you are earning 25 - 30k a year, you will probably live in a semi in a nice area, because that is roughly average.
I think britinparis is confused - if you are earning 100k a year in the UK, you will definitely own a detached house of a decent size. Semis are 'average'.
Despite Americans' obsession with the English upper classes, that section of society (i.e. Downton Abbey-esque aristos lording it up in some vast mansion) has never comprised more than 1% of the population. Nowadays it would be even less - a tiny fraction of one percent of the nation's population - who actually live like that. Most of those vast stately homes are now open to the public as tourist attractions, or have been transformed into hotels or private schools or health clubs/spas. Even if they are still lived in - it's more likely to be by some American or Russian oligarch, trying to ape some of the imagined habits of the English upper class.
My point was actually about how much larger the homes were of average, relatively successful middle-class families were respectively in England and America. Particularly in the south east - even families of wealthy professionals, with incomes comfortably above £100k a year - live in small, semi detached homes. In the States they'd be living in a vast suburban pile of easy luxary for that kind of money.
Oh, I'm well aware of all this. I was just teasing you about the stately homes.
Until recently, American homes (on average) were the largest in the world, while British homes (on average) are the smallest in Europe.
I used the word "were" because Australia has recently surpassed the U.S. in having the largest homes on average.
Those look like older established homes, whereas newer homes in the U.S. tend to be larger.
The average home size was 2,700 square feet in 2009.
They're in the new in the sense of being from the 60s as opposed to pre-war (my block is from around the first decade of the 20th century). Homes of the last couple decades are more bigger, but most aren't living in new homes here, maybe some other parts of the country.
2700 square feet sounds too high, that statistic is the average size of new homes on all of them, and even then I think it's more like 2300. Though maybe it was that high, few were building new homes anywhere in the country in 2009.
We have the smallest homes in Europe I thought it would be some southern european country.
According to what I read, all European homes are smaller on average than the U.S., but British homes are the smallest in Europe. British homes have actually gotten smaller over time, while U.S. homes have gotten larger over time (though this is beginning to reverse).
There is a movement in the U.S. called the "Tiny House Movement" where a few people are choosing to build extremely tiny homes and simplify their lives.
There is another movement called the "Big Enough House" started by a female architect where people don't build a bigger house than they really need, but use improved finishes and creative floor plans. Those houses don't usually exceed 2,800 square feet, which is still large by U.K. standards - but in the context of a country where lots of people were building 3,000-4,000 + square foot homes, that seemed reasonable.
They're in the new in the sense of being from the 60s as opposed to pre-war (my block is from around the first decade of the 20th century). Homes of the last couple decades are more bigger, but most aren't living in new homes here, maybe some other parts of the country.
2700 square feet sounds too high, that statistic is the average size of new homes on all of them, and even then I think it's more like 2300. Though maybe it was that high, few were building new homes anywhere in the country in 2009.
In the southeast, there are TONS of larger homes because there are tons of newer homes. The northeast is more built up with older stock, which is also more expensive than down here.
Since 2005, I've rented three homes. All were spec homes that had never been lived in before. Square footage - 3,100, 1,600, and 2,800.
We are moving again. Recently looked at a 3,000 square foot home and passed on it. Today, I'm going to look at one I estimate is at least 2,800, possibly 3,000 and sitting on top of a small mountain. Could easily get even larger homes to rent here, but why?
A year ago, my sister in Florida bought a 2,800 square foot home on a short sale for only $142,000, down from $325,000 when it was built five years prior. There are endless houses there just like it. You can get houses in Florida for a song right now.
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