"It is one of the quirks of history that social housing is generally bigger than private housing, because there are minimum standards for the size of rooms in social housing,"

That's Joe Martin of the RICS, talking to Paula Hawkins of the Times. The reasoning of the piece is that UK developers have a vested interest in squeezing lots of small rooms into a shell, because house values reflect number of bedrooms. The thrust is that there's a lot said for going the US way, and valuing a house per square foot.

Pricing per square foot allows international buyers a clear view of what they can get for their money. For example, while London's average price is £1,200 and New York's is £1,000, Tokyo property costs £900, Hong Kong £700 and Dubai property just £200 a square foot. Maximum super-prime prices are, of course, much higher, with only Monte Carlo, at £2,800 a square foot, coming close to London prices.

One thing, though... isn't this quite similar to a piece the Times ran back in March?

Size matters [March 3]
London properties most expensive in world [September 6]