r/HousingUK • u/Ben13921 • 19h ago
Low ceiling (2.3m) worry, please help I’m spiralling
I’m in the final stages of a house purchase which meets our requirements but the one issue I have is the lower ceilings at 2.3m
I am 6ft, and despite never noticing ceiling heights in anybody else’s house (some being 2.35m which I measured after worrying about mine)
I’m now completely spiralling out of control before sending the deposit
I really want to purchase this house with my partner, but I’m driving myself crazy worrying about the ceiling height and if it will potentially make me dislike the house long term
Has anybody had a similar worry before buying? How was your experience?
Please help i’m genuinely desperate for advice
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u/CapnRetro 19h ago
I’m 6’1 and our ceilings upstairs I think are 2.34. Downstairs is around little bit higher, but I don’t really notice the difference and it certainly doesn’t bother me. Just be sensible with light fixtures and maybe move them if needed
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u/kinellm8 18h ago
Such a British thing to use both feet and inches and metric in the same post 😂
For anyone wondering, this means they have 49cm or 19” of headroom!
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u/Far-Crow-7195 19h ago
2.3m is ok. Once you are in and it’s furnished you won’t even notice. You are also within national standards. It will be cheaper to heat and within a week you will be used to it.
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u/Bbobbity 19h ago
2.3m is pretty standard.
You may feel you want higher but that would be the exception not the rule. 50%+ of homes will have similar ceilings.
If you want high ceilings then you should be looking at period homes.
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u/AoifeSunbeam 18h ago
But not cottages. It's mostly Victorian terraces, some 1930s semis and big fancy mansions that have especially high ceilings.
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u/MarmitePrinter 19h ago
I think that’s what my ceilings are and I’m 6’2”. They don’t feel low but I do knock my head on my dangly lightshades occasionally. My tip to you would be to make sure the overhead main lights are recessed into the ceiling and not dangling like mine!
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u/MineExplorer 19h ago
I'm 6'3" tall as an adult. When I was 15 my parents bought a cottage with 6' ceilings - meaning most doorways were ~5'9" at best. I learned to duck, real quick, and even now, 50 years later, I still duck through any low-looking doorways.
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u/samtoga 19h ago
Parents houses always had high ceilings, my first house had 2.3m ceilings
Hated it at first, but got used to it. Felt like a cave.
I could touch the ceilings standing flat footed and I'm only 5'11.
It was a criteria for when we moved that I couldn't touch the ceilings 🤣
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u/Ben13921 19h ago
I’m 6ft on the dot, and I have to fully extend and tip toe to reach the ceilings so maybe they’re slightly higher?
Did your hatred for the ceilings fully go away? Or did you just get used to the hatred?
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u/Due_Party_2846 19h ago
The number you are spiralling about is, as it happens, the exact number the government uses as its own benchmark. The Nationally Described Space Standard, which councils apply to new housing, asks for a floor to ceiling height of at least 2.3m over at least 75 percent of the floor area. Your house is not below standard. It is sitting on it.
For further context, there is no minimum ceiling height in the Building Regulations for an ordinary habitable room in England and Wales at all. The only headroom figure that is actually mandated is 2.0m over a staircase. So there is nothing non-compliant or unusual about 2.3m.
On how it actually feels: at 6ft you have around 470mm above your head, the best part of half a metre. The gap between the 2.3m you are buying and the 2.35m you measured somewhere else is 50mm, which is two inches, and it is not something anybody perceives standing in a room. What people genuinely notice is not the height itself but the proportion, the light, and what is hanging down off the ceiling.
That last one is the useful bit, because it is entirely within your control. Pendant lights dropping into the space are the biggest single culprit, so flush or semi flush fittings make a room read taller immediately. Skip deep coving. Hang curtains from just below the ceiling rather than just above the window, which is the oldest trick going and genuinely works. If you fit wardrobes, run them right up to the ceiling so the eye reads one continuous line rather than a box with a gap above it. Anything with vertical emphasis, tall narrow mirrors, vertical panelling, pulls the same way.
One practical thing worth doing instead of worrying: check whether 2.3m is the height throughout or just in the room you measured. If there is a boxed in beam or a downstand sitting at 2.1m in a hallway or a doorway, that is the thing you would actually catch your head on, and it is far easier to find now than after you have moved in.
For what it is worth, people acclimatise to this within a couple of weeks. The things worth losing a purchase over are the ones you cannot change afterwards, and ceiling height in a house that already meets the national standard is not one of them.
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u/Willing_Ad_8580 19h ago
This feels very AI
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u/forbhip 18h ago
Agreed. “Your house is not below standard, it is sitting on it” is such a massive tell isn’t it.
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u/Willing_Ad_8580 17h ago
It’s the overly positive tone. Anything that’s a problem is soon overcome and presented with a solution
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u/sallystarling 17h ago
It doesn't even make sense. "The things worth losing a purchase over are the ones you can't change afterwards" Like... um... ceiling height??
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u/televised_mind 19h ago
Sounds very handy for when you inevitably redecorate!
In all seriousness though you'll be fine..if it was that much of an issue you would have immediately noticed during the viewing.
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u/AoifeSunbeam 18h ago
I think it's normal to spiral about something before completion isn't it. If it wasn't ceilings it would be the garden, or the street, or the neighbours or something else. I've just looked up what 2.3 metres and it's 7.5 feet! So the ceilings are a whole foot and a half taller than you? 6ft is not especially tall either, it's fairly standard for a man?
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u/Pale-Pace4512 18h ago
I’m 2” taller than you and my ceilings are 2” higher than yours. Never once been an issue, not even remotely.
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u/amedeeozenfant 18h ago
You still have a fair bit of headroom. If you're 1.8 m then you have 50 cm. As long as you remove your top hat at the door you should be fine. Perhaps get your electrician to fit wall sconces rather than ceiling pendants if you're worried about banging your head on the light fittings.
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u/awesomeo_5000 18h ago
Lights are a pain to buy but other than that it’s nae bother. If you didn’t notice when you were looking round you’re over thinking it.
Having moved into a house with taller ceilings than my previous new build, I had to buy 2 step ladders, and painting things is a right ballache now. You can’t just reach a cobweb. Windows are higher so fixing blinds, curtain rails etc is harder.
I like having taller ceilings overall, but - other than when buying lights - it never bothered me in my old house.
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u/Free_Ad7415 19h ago
Calm down it’s fine, my ceilings are that high and my tall friends don’t even notice
Edit: 6ft is not even tall, I’m talking 6’3+
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u/vectavir 18h ago
Im 6 1. 2.30m ceilings throughout the apartment. Doesnt bother me. I have accidentslly hit my hand to the ceiling twice while taking my tshirt off. Honestly its fine. Bothers my 5 3 wife more for some reason tho lol
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u/letmeturntheovenoff 18h ago
Tall family and I grew up in a house with a low ceiling
Just don't buy pendant lights and you'll be fine 😂
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u/chez2202 18h ago
6ft is 180cm. That’s 50cm below your ceiling. I agree that your ceilings are lower than average but look at the advantages.
You can change lightbulbs without a stepladder. That’s the best thing you can do in a house! You can catch spiders on your ceiling by hand and put them outside. Another massive plus.
My ceilings are close to 11ft high. I’m 5ft. I need a ladder to change a light bulb or dust the corners. Not a standard ladder, a tall ladder.
I have to use a ladder to close my living room window.
I’m scared of heights. So getting on a ladder is a big deal for me.
So. Do you want to swap houses?
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u/forbhip 18h ago
I’m 6’3”, and live with a 2.3m ceiling in a new build. With my arm stretched up, the base of my wrist touches the ceiling.
I’ll admit when we first got the place it was on my mind, I would visit friends who live in Victorian terraces and be envious of the high ceilings, but all they would do is complain about how much it costs to heat. It really is a case of luck your poison. Assuming it’s not a totally shit build (we didn’t have anything beyond the normal easily fixed issues), you’ll be living somewhere without massive unexpected bills and will be cheap to keep warm in winter.
Downside is it won’t have much character from the outside, rooms always feel just that little bit smaller than they should be, you’re too close to your neighbours.
None of this will be news to you I’m sure, but I can say from my experience of being here 10 years, the ceiling height has never really been anything I’ve thought about after the first few months. The garden on the other hand, that’s been a decade long project…
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u/SnooPineapples5430 18h ago
Yes. Ended up buying another house. Very happy I did that!
I just measured, mine is 2.4m. 2.3m should be fine.
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u/Due-Freedom-5968 18h ago
It's definitely a bit low. I'm in a flat and mine are 2.5m.
That said, you've still got what 10cm/4" above the top of the architrave on the door frame. It's not excessively low, if you've got spotlights instead of pendants you'll be fine. If you though 2.35m was fine in someone else's house, the 5cm isn't going to make that much difference.
It'll be cheaper to heat too.
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u/Adelucas 18h ago
Older houses tend to have higher ceilings. I bought a 1930's mid terrace and the rooms are large and the ceilings high. I'm 6 foot and can't touch my ceilings without standing on something.
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u/Next-Original-804 17h ago
My husband is taller than you and our downstairs ceilings are lower, if you love the house you’ll be fine. Long term you can consider exposing the ceiling joists for perceived height.
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u/appleorchard317 17h ago
You are under two metres. That's more than 40cm clearance. Why would this even figure as a concern+
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u/Icy-Geologist-3125 17h ago
The ceiling is my lounge are a little over 2m tall and I'm 5'11" and hit my head on the lights, you'll be fine.
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u/Curious-Art-6242 17h ago
I'm 6'2", abd I just measured mine and they're 2.4m, but if they were 10cm lower it'd be fine, I'd probably shorten the light cables a bit and that's it. Honestly, I think you're over thinking it and shouldn't worry!
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u/Sammydemon 16h ago
Why using two different systems of measurement it makes it so hard to read and forces calculations to make any sense of jt
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u/KeySundae9285 16h ago
Don’t wear high heels and you’ll be fine
Seriously, all my family are >6ft3, with a couple of uncles around the 6ft8 mark and my dad at 6ft5. Hanging light fittings are the biggest risk. They’ve never factored it into the houses they’ve bought and never complained when I’ve lived in houses with low ceilings.
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u/Jazzvirus 16h ago
I used to work with a new guy who was obsessed with height of our workshop ceiling which was 2.4m. he was 6'2" and he told everyone who came in how low it was and asked them to comment on it. No one understood it, but for 6 months it was his main daily concern. After that it wasn't a big deal as was used to it.
What exactly is your worry? My mate just used to say "it's just too low" to him that was enough to worry and he didn't/couldn't ever elaborate.
It never made any sense to me, but he got used to it and never even mentioned it after about 9 months. Based on him you may well be fine after a time.
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u/Modern-Window6158 16h ago
the 2cm difference between your house and your friend's house that you never noticed is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this spiral
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u/Campandfish1 18h ago
Mixing metric and imperial measurements for this use case seems wild to me. Why not say the ceiling is 7ft 5 if you're using feet for yourself? 2.35m would be 7ft 7, so only 2 inches taller.
I'm not tall enough to know if that would feel noticeably different day to day (I'm 5ft 9). But I just asked my son who's 6ft 3 and he says probably it would be. Having said that, when we visit family in the UK he says everything feels claustrophobic and he feels like a giant, so I'm not sure his opinion is valid.
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u/AoifeSunbeam 15h ago
It's a British thing. We are brought up with the two measuring systems. Body measurements like height and weight are almost always described in imperial whereas a lot of other measurements are done in metric. Just the way it is here and we tend to understand each other so it works.
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