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Comment by neilwilson | Hacker News Reader

Just bought a brand new house here in the UK and the house has a SAP designed footprint of 85kw/m2/a compared to the Passivhaus standard of 15kw/m2/a.

Unfortunately I have no choice. Unlike in Germany I don't get to buy the land and pick the builder. The two come bundled in the UK. And will do until we get political change that breaks up the building oligopoly.

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Here in NL the two are also usually inseparable (you buy a house from a large project, typically 100+ homes/apartments, sometimes even 1000+). But, just looking around our two countries, it just seems requirements in the UK must be lower. The average house just seems less well built.

There were some improvements on the way but when the current Conservative government came in they scrapped them at the behest of the big builders.

I was thinking on buying a land in the UK and buy a prefab/kit house that cost about £2000-£3200/sqm . Did you consider that option? Why did you reject it?

It's really difficult to get the land, and the planning, in an area you'd want to live.

This can happen in DE and AT as well, especially in expensive regions.

Developers simply have the money/the better leverage by buying in bulk. Then there are developers that simply sell you the (tiny) lot for a premium, and let you choose between something they arrange, or building yourself. And the good lots are always gone long before the project is announced anyway.

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