Not sure what your homes must meet?
Send us your project and where it is. A Senior Architect will give you an initial appraisal and guide you as to what to do next.
Start a conversationNationally described space standards, explained.
The minimum floor areas, how they are measured, and when they bind.
Reviewed October 2026
The short answer
The nationally described space standard, published in March 2015, sets minimum floor areas, bedroom sizes, storage and ceiling heights for new homes in England. A planning application must meet it only where adopted policy requires it. Permitted development homes applied for since 6 April 2021 must meet it by law.
In practice · Picken End, Hanley Swan
Fourteen homes, measured again
The standard can reach a consented scheme through the people who will own the homes. Here a housing association's specification brought it in after consent, and every house type was checked against it.
The order of work
01Allowed at appealFourteen homes, September 2025.
02Policy adoptedStandard required, March 2026.
03ComparedTwelve of 14 passed, July 2026.
04Layouts revisedTechnical design, October 2026.
Fourteen affordable homes on a neighbourhood plan allocation at Hanley Swan, in Malvern Hills district, allowed at appeal in September 2025 on our drawings. The appeal decision says nothing about space.
The job
- Site
- Picken End, fourteen affordable homes at Hanley Swan
- Role
- Architect: the approved drawings and the technical design
- Consent
- Allowed at appeal, APP/J1860/W/25/3364189, September 2025
- Outcome
- Layouts revised to the standard, October 2026; not yet built
The housing association's design specification requires the standard wherever it is adopted planning policy, and South Worcestershire's plan review adopted it in March 2026. A comparison in July 2026 found 12 of the 14 homes at or above its floor areas; the two ground-floor one-bedroom flats were 49 square metres against 50.
More
It also found bedrooms in the three-bedroom houses short of the standard's room sizes by 0.1 to 0.6 square metres. Built-in storage was above the minimum in every home.
In October 2026 we revised the layouts of the house types to the standard's requirements, then the sections and elevations to match. The homes were in technical design, and nothing had been built.
We drew the scheme; we did not run the appeal. A buyer's specification can bring in the standard even where the planning permission never mentioned it.
The proof
Four more schemes, measured.
No policy · still tested
Inwoods Park
Twenty-five homes in Rugby, where the adopted plan of 2019 left the standard out. The officer still tested every house type against it, and found the affordable bungalows at or above its minimum floor areas. Granted in March 2024.
Rugby ref R23/0491 · View project
Class Q · by law
Green Gate Barns
A large barn at Earlswood converted to two homes under Class Q, where the standard applies by law to every home permitted development creates. Both homes, approved in August 2022, are far above its minimum floor areas.
Ref PL/2022/01375/PNCUDW · View project
Two routes · one barn
A fertiliser barn
Five homes in a South Warwickshire barn. Under its Class Q prior approval of 2023 the standard bound every home by law; under the full permission of June 2026, which used that approval as its fallback, it applies only if local policy requires it.
Full planning, June 2026 · View project
Design-led · no policy
Bennetts Road
Six flats over a shop at Keresley in Coventry, drawn so that every flat meets the standard, which in 2026 only the council's design guidance and draft plan asked for. No application had been made by October 2026, so this is a design, not a consent.
Design stage, 2026 · View project
Every planning application we make in our own name is a matter of public record on a council register, and ours reach more than 100 planning authorities across the UK.
Apartment and high-density schemes →
01 · Where you stand
Check whether it applies to you
The standard is written for new homes; an extension is outside it, and some councils' plans also apply it to conversions and houses in multiple occupation. A planning application must meet it only where an adopted plan policy requires it, usually in the council's local plan, not a design guide or other supplementary document.
Permitted development is different. Where prior approval was applied for on or after 6 April 2021, every home must meet the standard in full, and none may be under 37 square metres, whatever the local plan says.
More
Near us, on 14 October 2026, the former Daventry district of West Northamptonshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth required it in adopted plans. Warwick District, Stratford-on-Avon, Rugby, Coventry and Solihull did not, though four had draft replacement plans that would.
Where no policy applies, a council cannot require the standard, but it can still refuse homes too small to work: Rugby's own design guidance says substandard accommodation will be a reason for refusal.
02 · The rules
Four rules to design to
The standard sets four kinds of minimum. A home must meet every one, and each fails in its own way.
Rule 01
Floor area
Set by bedrooms, bedspaces and storeys: a one-storey two-bedroom flat needs 61 square metres for three people or 70 for four, and a one-bedroom flat for one person needs 39, or 37 with a shower room.
Where it fails: any home for two or more people needs a double or twin bedroom, which sets the bedspaces drawn.
Rule 02
Bedrooms
A single bedroom needs 7.5 square metres and 2.15 metres of width; a double or twin needs 11.5 square metres. One double must be 2.75 metres wide and every other double 2.55 metres.
Where it fails: a fitted wardrobe counts in the area, but must never cut the room's effective width below its minimum.
Rule 03
Storage
Built-in storage rises from 1 square metre for a one-bedroom, one-person home (1.5 for two people) to 4 for six bedrooms, and includes half a square metre for a boiler or cylinder. Only the part of a wardrobe over 0.72 square metres in a double, or 0.36 in a single, counts.
Where it fails: storage under 900 millimetres of headroom counts for nothing, and from 900 to 1,500 only half.
Rule 04
Ceiling height
At least 2.3 metres from floor to ceiling over 75% of the gross internal area. Floor under 1.5 metres of headroom does not count towards the area unless used solely for storage, and storage under the stairs is taken as 1 square metre.
Where it fails: rooms in a roof or a low barn lose area quickly once everything under 1.5 metres drops out.
03 · The method
Prove it type by type
The standard measures gross internal area to the finished inside face of the perimeter walls, party walls included, so a home that passes on a sketch can fail once the wall linings are drawn. A council may check sizes again when it discharges conditions.
More
At Picken End the comparison went house type by house type and room by room, and a bedroom 0.1 square metres short was still recorded.
Under permitted development the discipline matters more, because the standard limits the permission itself rather than being one of the matters the council approves. Since 21 May 2024, a Class Q barn must also be capable of meeting it before any rear extension.
Common questions
Space standards, answered
What is the nationally described space standard?
A government standard, published on 27 March 2015, that sets minimum floor areas, bedroom sizes, built-in storage and ceiling heights for new homes in England.
More
The space standard was amended once, on 19 May 2016, by notes under its table on storage, bathrooms and furnished layouts. It is a planning standard, not a building regulation, so building control does not enforce it; the planning authority does. Its bedroom and storage minimums cannot be adopted on their own, apart from the rest of the standard.
Is the space standard mandatory?
Only where an adopted plan policy, usually the council's local plan, requires it, or by law for homes made under permitted development.
More
The permitted development rule applies where prior approval was applied for on or after 6 April 2021. Government guidance says a council may require the space standard only through its local plan, on evidence of need and viability. The Framework of August 2026 lets plans adopt it (PM13) and lets decisions go beyond other regimes only where such a policy exists (DM7). Where no policy applies, a council can still judge whether homes are too small to work as good design.
What is the minimum size of a one-bedroom flat?
39 square metres for one person, or 37 with a shower room instead of a bathroom; 50 square metres for two people on one floor.
More
A one-bedroom home for two people on two storeys needs 58 square metres. Under permitted development no home may be under 37 square metres and the whole space standard still applies, so a two-person flat still needs 50.
What is the minimum bedroom size?
7.5 square metres and 2.15 metres wide for a single; 11.5 square metres for a double or twin.
More
Under the space standard one double bedroom must be at least 2.75 metres wide and every other double or twin at least 2.55 metres wide. A built-in wardrobe counts towards the bedroom's area, but must not reduce its effective width below the minimum. Licensed houses in multiple occupation have their own, smaller, minimums under housing law, such as 6.51 square metres for one person over ten.
Do barn conversions and other permitted development have to meet it?
Yes: a home made under permitted development must meet the space standard where prior approval was applied for on or after 6 April 2021.
More
No such home may be under 37 square metres. The rule covers flats made by a change of use as well as houses. Since 21 May 2024 a Class Q barn must also be capable of meeting the standard before any rear extension and no Class Q home may exceed 150 square metres. A prior approval application must show each home's floor space and every room's dimensions. More on the rights themselves is in the guide to permitted development rights.
What ceiling height does the space standard require?
At least 2.3 metres from floor to ceiling over 75% of the home's gross internal area under the space standard.
More
In London the London Plan of 2021 raised the figure to 2.5 metres and a draft new London Plan published in July 2026 proposed 2.4 metres. Floor under 1.5 metres of headroom does not count towards the area unless it is used solely for storage.
How is gross internal area measured?
To the finished inside face of the walls that enclose the home, which for flats and attached houses include the party walls.
More
Under the space standard, partitions, stairs and cupboards are counted in. Floor under 1.5 metres of headroom is left out unless used solely for storage. Storage between 900 and 1,500 millimetres of headroom counts at half, storage lower than 900 millimetres not at all; storage under the stairs is taken as 1 square metre.
Does my council require the space standard?
Only if the council's adopted local plan has a space standard policy; its design guides alone cannot require it.
More
Near us, on 14 October 2026, the former Daventry district of West Northamptonshire and Nuneaton and Bedworth required the space standard in adopted plans. Warwick District and Stratford-on-Avon (a joint draft consulted on in summer 2026), Rugby (submitted April 2026) and Coventry (examined in 2026) had draft plans that would require it; Solihull's October 2026 draft had no such policy. Further afield, North Northamptonshire, Birmingham and South Worcestershire required it in adopted plans. A draft plan gains weight only as it advances.
Sources
Where this page comes from
Each rule here comes from the sources below.
Checked 14 October 2026
- Standard
- Nationally described space standard, March 2015
- Guidance
- Housing: optional technical standards, guidance
- Framework
- National Planning Policy Framework, PM13 and DM7
- Order
- Permitted Development Order 2015, article 3(9A)
- Start date
- 2020 amending regulations: in force 6 April 2021
- Class Q
- Part 3 of the Order: Class Q.1(o) and paragraph W
- Local plans
- Adopted and draft local plans of the councils named; Rugby's 2023 SPD
- HMOs
- Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4: HMO bedroom sizes
- London
- London Plan 2021, Policy D6; draft London Plan, July 2026, Policy HN8
- Our record
- Council registers, notices and reports for the projects here
Written by
Rickett Architects
A RIBA Chartered practice, working since 1970, with more than 2,500 projects behind it. Our senior architects take projects from first survey through planning to completion, for private clients, developers and landowners across the Midlands and well beyond it.