Housing that fits modern life and budgets

For too long, young people and low-income earners have been forced to choose between ageing, inefficient bedsits or renting.

Due to guidance known as the Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS), which asks homebuilders to create homes no smaller than 37sqm, build and property prices remain high and unattainable for millions of Britains.

At PAD, we believe ownership of a smaller 28sqm home, which is well designed, efficient and attainable is the way to increase home ownership. With a price point of £100,000 being attainable, why wouldn't Councils consider it for their smaller brownfield or awkward sites? 

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Impression of the interior of a small home

The Problem: Space Standards That Don’t Reflect Reality

Current guidelines insist a home must be at least 37 square metres. This sounds protective in theory but, in practice, it locks millions of people out of modern, affordable housing.

Instead, people are funnelled into:

  • Unregulated, substandard conversions
  • Leaky homes with soaring heating bills
  • Zero privacy, zero sustainability
  • Environments that perpetuate fuel poverty

These rules aren’t raising quality. They’re eliminating choice.

Bedsit

Our Proposal: High‑Spec Homes Without the High Price

We’re proposing a pilot of 16 beautifully designed, ultra‑efficient homes for single adults or couples.

Each is 28 square metres - but designed with the intelligence and quality the UK market is missing.

Karolina Howorko of Studio HOKA

Inspired by Europe

Cities like Stockholm and Paris have long embraced compact urban homes that prioritise:

  • Exceptional thermal performance
  • Radically lower energy costs
  • Minimal operational carbon
  • Full alignment with Net Zero goals
  • Natural light
  • Generous ceiling heights
  • Smart modular layouts
  • Exceptional build quality

This is proven, modern urbanism - and it works.

Engineered for the Future

Our homes use high‑performance, timber‑framed SIPs construction, delivering:

  • Exceptional thermal performance
  • Radically lower energy costs
  • Minimal operational carbon
  • Full alignment with Net Zero goals

Permanent Affordability Protections

Our homes are price protected to ensure they remain accessible for future buyers, not just the first owners. Through carefully structured resale mechanisms, these homes:

  • Retain below-market pricing
  • Prevent speculative price inflation
  • Stays limited to owner-occupiers not investors
  • Create lasting access to home ownership
Interior of small home

Our Team

Charlie Packman, Director

Charlie Packman, Founder

With over 20 years' experience leading complex projects, Charlie is skilled at bringing people together, solving problems, and taking ideas from the drawing board through to completion.

Alongside his professional career, Charlie has developed extensive hands-on experience in residential property. This includes designing and securing planning permission for a small apartment development, managing building projects, and developing a strong technical understanding of construction and refurbishment.

Contact the team

Ron Packman, Bsc(Eng) hons, C.Eng, ACGI, FIStructE

After Imperial College studying Civil and Structural Engineering, Ron worked with MMP consultants in Cambridge on international World Bank, UN and FAO projects in the developing world.

He became a Chartered Engineer StructE and then a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1978. He then established Packman Lucas Consulting Engineers which in four decades has completed more than five thousand projects around the world.

Alongside this, he purchased a timber frame housing company in Lithuania that produced flat pack SIPS housing for the Baltic States, England and Ireland. The company became Timber Frame Technology and was sold to a government housing company in 1991.

He also enjoyed a stint as a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London, teaching a number of distinguished alumni including Thomas Heatherwick, and at the Bartlett School of Architecture under Bob Shiel.

Frequently asked questions

Why are the proposed homes only 28sqm?
These homes are 28sqm because they are designed with modern efficiency, light, height, and thermal performance in mind, making them higher‑quality than many larger period conversions.
 
Cities like Paris and Stockholm have long proven that well‑designed compact homes can deliver excellent standards of comfort, privacy, and liveability.
 
The goal is not to reduce quality - it’s to reintroduce an affordable, energy‑efficient option that the UK housing market currently lacks.
How can a 28sqm home be better than a “standard‑size” flat or conversion?
Because size is only one aspect of quality. The homes use high‑spec timber‑framed SIPs construction, which creates warm, quiet, low‑carbon living spaces with large windows, high ceilings and smart modular layouts - without shared front doors or hallways.
 
Unlike many conversions, these homes offer superior insulation, far lower energy bills, and a layout designed from scratch for single-person urban living.
Are these homes just another version of micro-flats or temporary housing?
Due to the construction method our homes can be disassembled, however, they are fully engineered, full-spec homes. They are built to last, using sustainable construction methods and robust materials. The aim is to set a new standard for compact, future-proofed urban housing, not create substandard micro-accommodation.
How does the affordability model work?
A key part of this pilot is permanent affordability protections. The pricing of these homes will be legally governed so that if a resident sells in future, they cannot sell at an excessive profit.
 
This prevents investor flipping and ensures the homes remain an affordable first rung for workers and local residents, generation after generation.
Why can't these homes comply with the Nationally Described Space Standards?
The NDSS minimum of 37sqm is only guidance but is adhered to by most councils as they are trying to protect quality and provide adequate living space.
 
However, in practice, it blocks high-quality, efficient compact homes and forces people into older, drafty, unregulated conversions.
 
We hope forward thinking Councils will test a 21st-century alternative, focused on decarbonisation, affordability and design excellence, rather than arbitrary floor-area rules.
What benefits would this pilot bring to the Council and the community?

Facing a housing crisis and housebuilding targets, this pilot offers a chance to lead on:

  • Net Zero‑aligned housing, using ultra-low-energy construction
  • Genuine affordability, safeguarded through legal resale controls
  • Better outcomes for single residents, who are increasingly priced out
  • A scalable model for high-quality, low-impact urban living
  • Reduced fuel poverty, thanks to exceptional thermal performance

It enables the Council to support innovation while delivering real, practical solutions to today’s housing challenges faster.

Contact us

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