Most things come to the UK from the USA in time – mobile phones, light bulbs, chocolate chip cookies – but when it comes to buying property, Brits seem to be stuck in a ‘heart vs head’ conundrum that leaves them open to paying too much for their homes.

US realtors, as estate agents are known across The Pond, regularly explain the size of a property to their clients and potential clients in square feet. In the UK, we describe a one-bedroom, three-bedroom and so on property, which while it gives you some idea that the property is tiny or relatively big, how large each of these rooms are remains a mystery until you actually see it.

Trawling around internet property sites to find a home that will suit you is one way to get a handle on how big a property is. But that still gives little idea until you have your feet over the threshold. 

Yet when it comes to commercial property in the UK, the standard way to buy or rent it is in square feet. So why such a difference for residential property purchases? Perhaps the answer is because if we did buy in square feet in the UK, those getting new builds would realise just how much they have shrunk over the last 40 years.

Analysis by LABC Warranty which provides warranties for new build properties looked at property sizes back to the 1930s, and the results are pretty astounding. In the 1930s, the average living room measured 172.3 sqft with a main bedroom of 165.1 sqft and kitchens averaging just 132 sqft.

Houses were at their biggest in the 1970s, when living rooms reached 267.9 sqft, kitchens averaged 161 sqft, the master bedroom averaged 158.3 sqft and there were an average of 3.53 bedrooms.

However, things started to shrink in the 1980s, and that trend continued into the 2000s. By the turn of the Century, the average measurements had fallen considerably. The average living room was 212.5 sqft, master bedrooms on average were 146.8 sqft, the average kitchen space had fallen to 144.6 sqft and the average home had 3.32 bedrooms.

So, anyone buying a property that was built after 1970 is likely to be getting a smaller house than one built prior to this or after this date.

However, if you want to be sure you know you are getting exactly what you are paying for, then find out the precise dimensions of your home with Spec. We can give you a full, mm-perfect view of your new home, so you can be sure you are buying with your head, and not just your heart.

To find out more please contact Spec via email at hello@spec.co.

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