Malcolm Scott | COMMENT AND OPINION OPINION


MALCOLM SCOTT


Over the past 20 years, the size of the average new home has got smaller. This must-have huge implications for all designers and presents both problems and opportunities. During 2011, the BBC ran some articles under the heading of ‘Shoe Box Homes’ based on information from a survey by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba), which concluded that the average UK home size was 85sq m, compared with 87.7sq m in Ireland, 115.5sq m in the Netherlands and 137sq m in Denmark. The average new home being built was just 76sq m.


The WTA industry conference speaker and KBSA corporate chairman believes shrinking UK homes are an opportunity for clever designers and considers the latest effects of a long drawn-out Brexit


Designing for the ‘shoe box home’ W


hen the editor asked for my thoughts on compact living, I immediately thought about the size of many of the new homes that Swift supplies appliances to, and the size of the kitchens in the student accommodation blocks that we supply.


One of Omar’s park homes


The average UK home has got smaller which presents both problems and opportunities


A Which? magazine article ‘Shrinking Homes’ published in April 2018 reported the average size of a home built since 2010 was just 67.8sq m. Looking at specific house types, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reported in 2016 that average houses in England and Wales were 104sq m, with flats averaging 49sq m of living space. The BBC article highlighted that 70% of the buyers in the review said that there was not enough storage space in their new home. A problem or an opportunity? Clever design of kitchens and bedrooms can overcome this issue. If you have ever viewed or stayed in one of the park homes built by Omar, you will know that clever design can make a small home very comfortable and practical. If you have lived in one of the Fresh Student Living accommodation blocks adjacent to many of our universities, you will be aware that with clever design you can pack a lot into quite a small area.


Manufacturers have been developing ever more


Dealers bullish despite Brexit


The publication of the much-respected annual JKMR Market Research MDA (major domestic appliances) report by Jayne Barber confirms that 2018 was a reasonable year for the kitchen sector and for the sale of appliances. Unit sales of appliances may have been lower, but the total fitted kitchen market by value was up by 3.4%, generating a total fitted kitchen products market of £4.45 billion. Furniture was roughly half of kitchen outlet spend, with domestic appliances taking 26.8% leaving worktops, sinks, taps etc taking just under 25%. Kitchen specialists held their value share of the total fitted market at 37.5% – about the same level for the past 10-plus years. The research suggests that just 10.5% of consumers buying a fitted kitchen split the order and purchased appliances and furniture from different retailers.


August 2019 · kbbreview


sophisticated, yet affordable, compact combi cooking appliances for years, so that there is no need for separate ovens, microwaves and steamers – all can now be provided by one unit. The rise in induction hob use has greatly reduced the problem of heat dissipation when appliances are very close together. Washer-dryer technology and energy efficiency have steadily improved, with 8kg washing loads now being quite common – that is over 40% more than 10 years ago. Single oven cavity sizes have steadily grown so that the standard has increased from 65 litres to 71 litres with some brands offering 80 litres. Improved insulation leading to thinner walls on refrigeration has resulted in the introduction of refrigeration options that are the same external size but store up to 20% more food than 10 years ago.


The many 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 kitchen hot taps now on the market allow designers to free up valuable worktop space, while most sink manufacturers now offer many highly versatile compact sink options.


Add to this the huge raft of space-saving shelving and drawer solutions available from manufacturers like Blum, Hettich, Kesseböhmer and Häfele.


As property prices have increased, consumers have become more willing to spend more money on solutions that make living easier.


There certainly seems to be an opportunity here for those who think creatively.


So just under 90% of fitted kitchen are still sold as a full package. Last month’s ‘How’s Business?’ feature looked at Darlington and reported on four kitchen and bathroom specialists all saying that business was good. Paul Hutchinson of Adams Bathrooms stated “this year has been better than the past couple”. Sarah Allen of Rooms by Design said “the start to the year was great – our best for around five years”, while according to Malcolm Britton of Malbra Complete Home Solutions. “business is very good”. Business had also “been good” for Steve Sinclair of Durtona. While Brexit uncertainty is clearly impacting consumer confidence and creating a ‘patchy’ trading environment, there are still retailers who are doing well, and the evidence still suggests the North is holding up better than the South. The inability to compromise and reach an


agreement in Westminster must surely resolve itself soon, at least on this issue, as whoever wins the Conservative Party leadership race will need to show instant progress to survive. Compromise


will surely come. The whole Brexit fiasco is a case of be careful what you wish for. Just like Scottish devolution, things can have unintended consequences that lead to perpetual instability.


When the Labour Party put down the foundations for Scottish devolution, which created the platform for the SNP to thrive and take a huge number of seats in Westminster, they surely could not have been wishing that this would trigger a long-term structural change resulting in them never again being able to govern the UK without taking on a coalition partner like the SNP or the Liberals. The fact that the Conservative government


currently rely on Ulster Unionists and they had a recent coalition with the Liberals to gain power shows just how much things have changed in British politics in the past 10 years. We will surely get some deal on Brexit soon, but will we ever have a leader again from any party who has an outright majority and can get on with governing the country and giving businesses a stable base to build on?


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