Most houses aren't designed by architects...they are built by developers and builders, and adaptability and flexibility in future use are just not on the agenda. The construction and layout are driven by cost and profit. There's a move to design houses so that they are adaptable and to give them a long and flexible life..but it costs money, and developers just aren't going to adopt this more progressive attitude unless forced to.
A lot of old 'mass-market' houses were built with exactly the same cost-saving approach (typical Victorian skinny 3" x 2" ceiling joists and rafters etc)...but they didn't have computers or hydraulic presses to design and assemble trussed rafters which result in the roofspace of modern houses being stuffed full of efficiently designed of matchwood. The older houses present their own problems, but because of the simpler construction and basic materials, are often much easier to work with, and are more generous in terms of rooms sizes as well.
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