Reply to American Living in London for 12 Years: AMA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]British houses are smaller than their American counterparts. Quite often much smaller. Take this upmarket new build in an affluent London suburb: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68201313.html you can see from the floorplan how small the house really is. And because of the cooler and damper climate, houses were rarely built with large open rooms but rather multiple small closed rooms, which were easier to heat. It's only been recently that you started seeing the open kitchen-family room great room combination in newer properties.

On the other hand, there's also plenty of very large houses in Britain. Leagues of gorgeous old rectories, Victorian villas and Georgian houses all over Britain. But most British people do live in much smaller quarters than Americans do. Generally speaking you get more space the further away from London.

Housing quality varies, especially for new builds. Lots of cheaply built flats and terraced houses, but also amazingly well built bigger houses at the same time with solid masonry and slate, unlike in the US.[/quote]

It seems like most UK kitchens have those high gloss cabinets?  I've never been a fan.  Also, is central air/heat not a thing there?  It's funny to me as an American to see those old-school radiators in each room.[/quote]

The high gloss cabinet is a personal preference. Plenty don't and have lovely wood cabinets. This house is a certain style and wouldn't appeal to everyone. Here's several other listings in the same village:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-87821129.html

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68928168.html

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-68207733.html

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67445643.html

Having said that, the wood "farmhouse kitchen" is definitely a bit of a dated look these days, just like in America, with the younger generation favoring the Scandinavian modern look.

Central air is very rare. Only maybe the most expensive properties especially renovated townhouses in London would have them. It rarely gets that hot to require a central air (although that may change with global warming). The old school radiators is steam heat fueled by a water boiler, which is much more energy efficient than electric heat and remains quite popular. [/quote]

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