Martin. There are many different formats for selling a house in the UK. For instance if the garden was big it might say 'Semi detached house with 150ft garden'. You are correct in saying that Germany would use a square measure. This is true of most countries - including the USA and the Caribbean for example. For whatever reason we, in the UK, prefer our measures split into individual rooms with a length x width approach. It's just the way we are. Your quote about UK houses getting smaller is a result of not quoting total area is a bit odd (it gave me a chuckle). As I have said we quote rooms individually and are used to that. The UK has an awful lot of houses spanning back past Victorian era and beyond. They certainly haven't shrunk. New houses tend to reflect the fact that house prices are very high and there is a shortage of affordable houses - this is a natural reaction to cater for first time buyers - market forces. Also you have to factor in that european countries (people) tend to rent whereas we tend to buy. Finally - I was not 'labouring'. You must realise, Martin, that the chart with the colour coding and 'good to bad' simple approach is for people to make an informed decision without needing to be a scientist or expert in energy matters. The same charts appear on many things including 'white goods' (fridges, ovens, etc). It is there precisely to allow people to see a simple method of how good things are. That is what people will focus on and that is the reason (IMHO) that the new govt will keep that portion while ditching the rest of HIPS and it's associated costs. I apologise if this is not very US + metrication focused. My original post was simply to show a directional change here in the UK (and in what respect).
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA:47399] RE: New Govt - effect on metrication (housing) Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 22:46:43 +0100 For the benefit of non-UK readers, the headline advertisement for a house in the UK is typically “A well-kept four bedroomed house for £xxx,xxx”. The equivalent advertisement in Germany would be (translated) “A well-kept 140 m² house for €xxx.xxx”. I saw a report recently which showed that the average size of a British house (in terms of floor area) had decreased, while the average across the EU (15 states) had increased. I believe that one of the factors behind this was the absence of floor area in the headline advertisements – house builders are able to houses with smaller rooms and get away with it in the UK, but not in Germany. BTW, for those who are interested, a typical British Energy certificate can be seen at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/319282.pdf. Steve was labouring under the misapprehension that the “Energy Certificate” was just the bar-chart in the middle of the certificate. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: 21 May 2010 10:03 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:47399] RE: New Govt - effect on metrication (housing) Martin, Yes -that "A to F" green-to-red thing remains (it gives an energy efficiency rating in a simple to use red-green format with no need for figures and measures - although it's derived from them). I was referring to the floorspace info on the actual Hips pack. I will admit that it was only 2 odd-balls that made a song-and-dance out of that (and could not see the negative effect it created) but I thought I'd raise it to 'put it to bed'. It was annoying red tape from the state - so you can see I am delighted ;-) From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [USMA:47397] New Govt - effect on metrication (housing) Date: Fri, 21 May 2010 06:25:34 +0100 Steve, If you visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10130254.stm, you will see: The packs are paid for by sellers and contain property information, title deeds, and local searches. and The energy performance certificate, which ranks the energy efficiency of a home with A to G ratings, will be retained and must be produced by the seller within 28 days of putting a home on the market. It costs about £60. The only parts of the HIP that always contained measurements were the energy certificate (which is remaining in place). Martin From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: 20 May 2010 14:22 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:47397] New Govt - effect on metrication (housing) In the UK we have a new government. A couple of people cited 'HiPS' as a cause celebre regarding metric. I always found it an odd example since putting floorspace in metric on a form people will hate to fill out and pay for cannot surely be seen as selling metric? Anyhow - the new govt has scrapped it. No more HIPS I would suggest - however - that this is probably good for metric considering my observation above. ---------------- HIPS - stands for Home information Packs. Whereas estate agents used feet/in these forms used sq m. Get a free e-mail account with Hotmail. Sign-up now. Get a free e-mail account with Hotmail. Sign-up now. _________________________________________________________________ http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/197222280/direct/01/ Do you have a story that started on Hotmail? Tell us now
