Britain's biggest housebuilders appeared to brush off today a new architects report, which says Britain's new homes are being built like 'rabbit hutches'.
The well-respected Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) measured a sample of new homes on 100 developments and singled out Persimmon (LON:PSN) and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) as the worst offenders of building properties, which were too small.
Comparing against new optional space standards introduced in October this year, Riba found on average that new three-bedroom homes outside London were four square metres short of the minimum requirement of 93 square metres.
It found Barratt homes were on average 6.7sq metres smaller and Persimmon homes were on average 10.8sq metres too small - or the equivalent of a double bedroom.
RIBA president, Jane Duncan, was quoted as saying: "Tiny rabbit hutch new-builds should be a thing of the past.
"But sadly our research shows that for many people, a new home means living somewhere that's been built well below the minimum space standard needed for a comfortable home."
Housing is one of the biggest UK talking points around and the Chancellor last week in the Autumn Statement unveiled plans to build more than 400,000 affordable homes across England by the end of this Parliament.
RIBA wants a national minimum space standard to be included in official nationwide building regulations as currently they are optional that can be taken or not by local authorities.
It comes as figures today showed UK construction activity fell to a seven-month low last month (November), with the Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ Index (PMI) falling to 55.3 in November, from 58.8 in October. That said, experts also believe Osborne's moves last week will bolster the housebuilding sector in coming years. “The UK construction recovery is down but not out," was how Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, described it.
Persimmon shares gained 0.57% to 1,937p today. Barratt (LON:BDEV) was up 0.16% at 607.5p and Bovis Homes (LON:BVS) gained 1.66% to 982p.