[MargaretR]

England is getting smaller - (I haven't said UK because there are wild places in Wales and Scotland, but most of them are uninhabitable).
Our population is too dense, so new houses and the rooms in them are smaller.

I read recently that every German has twice as much space per head, and a Frenchman, 4 times as much!

So when architects have to economise on space they will shrink the area that many people wont use - a dining area