Housing Spaces in Nine European Countries: A Comparison of Dimensional Requirements

Abstract

Modern housing units must meet new needs and requirements; housing dimensions and functional characteristics are relevant issues, mainly considering population ageing and disability. The housing standards of nine European countries were compared to analyze their ability to satisfy new population need, in terms of size. The regulations were downloaded from the websites of the official channels of each country. A wide variability in room size was observed (e.g., single room: from 9 m2 in Italy to 7 m2 in France, to the absence of any limit in England and Wales, Germany-Hesse, and Denmark). Italian and French legislations define housing dimension considering the room destination and the number of people. The Swedish regulation provides performance requirements and functional indications but does not specify the minimum dimensions of habitable rooms. The rooms’ minimum heights vary between 2.70 m in Italy and Portugal and 2.60 m in the Netherlands, but no limits are established in England and Wales. A diverse approach among European countries regulations is observed: from a market-oriented logic one (e.g., England and Wales) in which room minimum dimensions are not defined to a prescriptive one (Italy) and one that is functionality-oriented (the Netherlands). However, considering the health, social, environmental, and economic trends, many of these standards should be revised.

The Importance of Domestic Space in the Times of COVID-19

“…The results of a comprehensive comparison of dimensional standards of indoor living spaces in the European context are instructive: these apply everywhere with only local modifications [48]. Reducing minimum dimensional standards generates a host of health problems.…”

Housing and Health: Here We Go Again

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in terms of living space, dwellings must be large enough to comfortably accommodate people of different ages and must guarantee sufficient space to fulfill the safety and privacy needs of the occupants [32,33]. Dwellings nowadays ought not only to meet a basic human need for shelter, but also contribute to the physical and psychological well-being and social integration of the residents [33,34]. Housing with substandard spacing is linked with mental and infectious diseases [4,6,33,35].…”

“…Dwellings nowadays ought not only to meet a basic human need for shelter, but also contribute to the physical and psychological well-being and social integration of the residents [33,34]. Housing with substandard spacing is linked with mental and infectious diseases [4,6,33,35]. The strong correlation between the built environment, overcrowding, and the spread of infectious diseases is well documented in particular for some pathologies such as tuberculosis and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, and is now coming back as a fundamental threat due to the COVID-19 pandemic [6,33,[36][37][38][39][40][41].…”

“…Housing with substandard spacing is linked with mental and infectious diseases [4,6,33,35]. The strong correlation between the built environment, overcrowding, and the spread of infectious diseases is well documented in particular for some pathologies such as tuberculosis and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, and is now coming back as a fundamental threat due to the COVID-19 pandemic [6,33,[36][37][38][39][40][41]. Insufficient housing space conditions and the lack of privacy can be related to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression [32,42,43].…”

“…At the same time, it represents an issue for people with physical disabilities, particularly if they require mechanical supports [17,32]. Space shaping can also influence social interaction and integration, determining how much interaction occurs and its results [19,32,33]. Defining the appropriate amount of internal space for a dwelling is a complex issue and there is not a vast amount of evidence-based data on space standards.…”