ᐅ Is a floor plan width of 5 meters too narrow?

Hello everyone,

We are interested in a very nice plot of land that is quite long but very narrow. After deducting the required setbacks from the neighboring properties, the house can be a maximum of about 5.50 meters (18 feet) wide. The length is fine, allowing for a building of up to 14 meters (46 feet). Only a single-story building is permitted, so there would be no option to convert an attic, resulting in a total living area of around 150 square meters (1,615 square feet).

Our question is whether the width is too narrow and if it would feel like living in a narrow corridor? Has anyone had experience with this?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!
Regards, Anne

I wouldn’t build a bungalow on top of that.
A single-story house can also refer to a building with two floors if the ground floor is larger than the upper floor. However, I’m not exactly sure how that is defined. How many people is the house meant for?

Calculate with a wall thickness of 40cm (16 inches); then from your 5.50m (18 feet) only 4.70m (15 feet) remains. With 5.00m (16 feet), it’s just 4.20m (14 feet).

Is the house going to be detached, built in a gap between other buildings, or at least attached on one side?

As a terraced or end-of-terrace house, this might still work, but detached it will probably look quite poor. Such a design requires creative (individual) solutions. I like clever ideas, but this might not be for everyone.

Thanks for the quick responses! Initially, two of us will move in, but we are planning for a growing family ;-) Overall, there should be 4 rooms (living room and 3 bedrooms).
The house is detached, and I’m concerned it might look odd somehow. Inside, the kitchen and living room would be arranged one after the other. It would probably require a creative solution.
Does anyone know if, for example, a conservatory could be used to go under the 3-meter (10 feet) limit, making the living room wider?

A conservatory often allows for exceeding the setback distance, usually by about 0.50–1.00 m (1.5–3 feet).

I just remembered that a friend of mine built a narrow house. She placed the entrance in the middle of the side, with a bathroom and staircase there as well. To the right, you enter the kitchen-living area, and to the left, the living room. Upstairs, there are two large bedrooms and a spacious bathroom. So it’s definitely possible, but you just can’t expect the typical single-family home layouts.

Thanks for the tip. That sounds more positive than I initially thought.