Householders truly feeling the squeeze

Families have lost almost 11 square feet of living space over the last three years as more people work from home, research from insurer LV found.

By The Newsroom

Published 15th Oct 2011, 07:00 BST

Households are literally feeling the squeeze, as the average total floor space available for domestic use has fallen from 937.8 sq ft in 2008, to 927.3 sq ft in 2011.

The number of home workers has grown by a fifth over the period, LV said, leading to half a million makeshift work-spaces springing up in corridors, cupboards and under the stairs.

The insurer found that 13 per cent of households have modified their homes in a potentially dangerous way in a desperate bid to create more room.

Its report found eight per cent of households were barred from “trading up” due to a lack of equity in their home or because they would struggle to obtain a bigger mortgage.

The insurer estimated that 190,000 children have seen their bedrooms partitioned to create an extra room.