BRITAIN'S homes are just not big enough, according to research that reveals a glut of two-bedroom flats and a shortage of three-bedroom family houses.

Developers are making matters worse by continuing to build too many two-bedroom apartments, it is claimed.

Many developers blame government planning policy, which encourages high-density developments, even outside urban areas. Others say that people cannot afford to buy larger homes so there is no point building them.

Research by propertyfinder.com, a property website whose members include Foxtons and Winkworth, found an annual shortage of 350,000 three-bedroom homes on the market, with a s urplus of 317,000 small homes and 33,000 large homes (five bedrooms or more).

This implies an overall oversupply of 4.3 million two- bedroom homes and an overall shortage of four million three-bedroom homes. A quarter of buyers have to buy a smaller home than they are looking for, and availability, not affordability, explains the shortfall, according to researchers. Prices for two-bedroom properties are falling while prices of other types of housing remain stable because of this, they say.

The survey found that 41 per cent of Britain's housing stock has two bedrooms, yet only 21 per cent of buyers are looking for a property of that size.

Only 3 per cent of buyers are looking for one-bedroom homes, yet 9 per cent of the housing stock has one bedroom. In contrast, 30 per cent of homes in Britain have three bedrooms and yet 40 per cent of the survey's 2,307 respondents wanted one. Those wanting four-bedroom homes are even worse off. Less than a tenth of the stock has four bedrooms, while more than a quarter of buyers would like to buy one. Homes are also becoming condensed, with more rooms within the same space, according to a five-year review by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This is due to the inclusion of extra rooms, particularly en-suite bathrooms and utility rooms, the review said. However, a typical modern house is 55 per cent smaller than one built before 1920, so the number of bedrooms can be misleading.

Ian Morris, of Taylor Woodrow, which owns Bryant Homes, Britain's fourth biggest developer, said: "In many areas, developers cannot get planning permission to build anything bigger than two-bedroom apartments."

A Government spokesman denied that the guidelines restricted developers to building two-bedroom flats. He said: "We are not prescriptive about the form that new housing should take. It is possible to build family homes with gardens at the target of 30 dwellings per hectare [74 per acre] and in many areas this is already being delivered."