You Build up & out but WHY Not Down?

1st April 2003

T. Wyn Jones

If you move more than 3 times in Norway the general consensus is that you have been divorced once and accidentally burnt the house down on the other occasion!

I recently visited my friend in Stavanger Norway and when looking over his house it made me think “why do we in Britain build up and out but never down? In years gone by we always built down with dry or wet cellars for storage, but with new houses hardly ever. Why not incorporate modern technology and increase your habitable floor space by up to 100% as the Norwegians and other Europeans do?

It is common practice in Norway to have what could be termed as an underground annexe. At the start of their life together in their newly acquired house the young couple invariably live in the annexe, leasing out the main residence for a substantial annual income. Later on in their married life they move into the main residence and rent out the lower ground floor annexe as at this stage they are able to “get by” on the lower income from the lower ground floor but require the size of their main residence for their family. And so on until the final move when they occupy the whole house with the annexe being used for guests. Of course things do not always follow a set route but the house owners always have the flexibility.

Compare this to Britain. Apparently the average person will move house seven times in their lifetime the major reason for which is the constant climb up the property ladder. On eventually reaching the size of property you aspire to the children have moved out, so what do you do? You give it a couple of years in your “dream” home by which time you find that it is way to big and costly to run so then you start downsizing. If you move more than 3 times in Norway the general consensus is that you have been divorced once and accidentally burnt the house down on the other occasion!

So why don’t we use this method of construction in Britain anymore? Everyone bemoans the urbanisation of rural areas. Is this not a possible solution? Another consideration is that families are getting smaller and often the demand is for entertaining or office space rather than bedrooms. What better than the basement for this use. The development of the basement can help insulate your home, stabilise foundations and doesn’t impinge on the skyline.

If you want to extend but have limited room to do so perhaps down is the way to go. There are companies who specialise in basement developments on houses. One problem though. Many Local Authorities don’t yet have guidelines on such development.

Basements are and always have been a part of the Scandinavian and American house culture they used to be in Britain. Lets hope they come back in fashion. Contact our Survey Department if you want some advice on building a house with a cellar or want to convert your current cellar into habitable accommodation.

Wyn Jones is a partner of McCartneys, Property Agents and operates from their Ludlow, Tenbury Wells & Cleobury Mortimer offices. For further information on Property Matters he can be contacted on Tel 01584 872153 or wyn@mccartneys.co.uk