The Problem: Front gardens waste space the UK does not have.
The Solution: Build house out over front gardens, with garages beneath them.
There is endless talk of the UK’s housing crisis, especially in London and parts of the home counties. House sizes are shrinking while prices are rising.
As I walk around my local streets, I see huge wasted space outside every house – the front garden and driveway.
While some front gardens are beautifully landscaped, no-one spends anytime in them because they don’t have the privacy of a back garden. They, are therefore, a massive waste of space – in many cases, building over them could increase the size of a house by 50% or more.
I therefore propose a new standardised house design, where the second floor of a house extends over the front garden and garage area, providing extra square footage of living space, supported by pillars that allow for cars to park beneath the house.
Although these new rooms would be close to the pavement, they would be raised on a second floor so there would be good levels of privacy as no-one could look-in through the window as they walked past, and blinds could also be fitted to windows for those that wished.
A formal closed garage could be built below the house for storage, as well as as an open paved area to park cars.
Such a design would likely at least double the size of the second floor in a house, significantly increasing the living space available.
And in an era of increasing working from home, the space would be perfect for a home office room, perhaps with a gym.
When you’re short of space, you need to go up and/or out. Front gardens waste so much space, far better that new houses are built closer to the pavement with bigger back gardens that can be luxuriantly landscaped and enjoyed, or that existing houses are re-modelled and extended over the front garden and drive to create more living space.
Perhaps instead of the trend for home offices in the back garden, it’s time to create a trend for home offices about the front drive.
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