'No space like home?' Addressing pressing questions about England's smallest homes

What do we really know about England's smallest homes? In 2015, England introduced the Nationally Described Space Standard (NDSS) to give local authorities clear grounds for rejecting housing below minimum sizes – such as one-bed flats and studios smaller than 37m². The policy aimed to prevent inadequate housing from reaching the market.

Yet the standards remain non-mandatory, and preliminary research reveals an unexpected outcome: the proportion of new homes built below this minimum actually increased after 2015. These sub-sized properties now constitute at least 5% of new housing nationally, rising to 10% in notable locations including many London boroughs.

Very little is known about these properties: where they tend to be located, why they are being permitted, and whether they provide adequate and liveable homes for residents. An urgent question remains as to whether these sub-sized properties provide much-needed affordable homes for those struggling to get on the housing ladder, or whether they are destined to become the 'slums of the future'.

Led by Professor Jon Reades at The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), with postdoctoral researcher Dr Ruth Neville, this Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project brings together researchers in law, geography and computer science from King's College London, University of Southampton, University of Sheffield and UCL. Using Energy Performance Certificates as a data source – with access to over 28 million records – the team will construct the first national-level overview of England's very smallest homes.

The research builds on pilot work undertaken as part of a master's dissertation research for CASA's Urban Spatial Science MSc programme.

Research questions

The project examines self-contained dwellings below the 37m² threshold through three linked work packages on the production, regulation and consumption of small homes. The research addresses pressing questions:

• Why are the proportions of sub-sized homes higher in some local authorities than others?
• What forms do these sub-sized domestic properties tend to take?
• In which neighbourhoods are these properties most numerous?
• Does the development of small homes in these neighbourhoods improve housing affordability, or, conversely, increase house prices and rental costs?
• And, crucially, do those people living in these properties experience them as adequate and liveable homes?

Outcomes and impact

The answers to these questions, and their implications, will be of particular interest to local authority planners. The project will synthesise best practice in NDSS enforcement, making recommendations to ensure National Development Management Policies promote adequate and affordable housing suited to local contexts.

National and regional policymakers and politicians, plus charities and NGOs working on housing issues, are also likely to be key beneficiaries of this research. The team is pleased to have Homes England, the RTPI, the Chartered Institute of Housing and RICS assisting with the research.

Findings will also be of interest to developers, landlords and architects by improving understanding of the varied ways that small dwellings are occupied, and by whom. The project will engage occupiers by providing insight into housing affordability and the trade-offs between housing space, price and location.

Image: Adrien Olichon on Unsplash