50 sqm house design in the Philippines: what fits on the floor and on the lot
How big 50 sqm is (5 m by 10 m), what a 50 sqm house holds, a 50 sqm lot under the lot coverage and BP 220 rules, and when to build up on a 100 sqm lot.
Fifty square metres comes up in two different questions, and they have different answers. A 50 sqm house is a floor area: the rooms add up to 50 m². A 50 sqm lot is the land: the house has to fit inside it with the setbacks and open space the rules require. The first is a comfortable small home. The second is a tight lot that usually pushes the house up a floor.
How big is 50 square metres?
A 5 m by 10 m rectangle, which is a common shape for a subdivision lot, or a square of a little over 7 m on each side. Pace out 5 m by 10 m in a yard and it is easier to judge than any picture.
What fits in a 50 sqm house
The National Building Code (PD 1096) sets the smallest rooms a plan may have, in Section 806:
| Room | Smallest floor area | Smallest side |
|---|---|---|
| A room people live in: bedroom, living room | 6.00 m² | 2.00 m |
| Kitchen | 3.00 m² | 1.50 m |
| Bath and toilet | 1.20 m² | 0.90 m |
Those are floors for the plan to stay above, and a family would not want to live at them. As a worked example only, not a recommended layout: two bedrooms of 3 m by 3 m use 18 m², a bathroom of 1.5 m by 2 m uses 3 m², and that leaves about 29 m² for the living and dining area, the kitchen, the walls and the space to move between rooms. That is a workable two-bedroom house. A third bedroom fits only if the living area or the bedrooms shrink, and a long corridor can quietly take what the third room needed.
The room size checker tests any room against Sections 805 to 808, including ceiling height, and the small house design guide covers plans that waste no floor.
A 50 sqm lot
On a lot this size, the land sets the limits before the rooms do.
Lot coverage. Section 708(a) of the building code lets a dwelling occupy up to 80 percent on an inside lot and 90 percent on a corner lot. On a 50 m² inside lot that is at most 40 m² of footprint, and the setbacks, the open space for light and air, and the carport usually leave less. The lot coverage calculator does the sum for your own lot, and the easements guide explains the distances to the neighbours.
Subdivision lots under BP 220. In a socialized or economic housing project, the 2008 rules for BP 220 set the smallest lot for each kind of house:
| Kind of house | Economic housing | Socialized housing |
|---|---|---|
| Single detached | 72 m² | 64 m² |
| Duplex or single attached | 54 m² | 48 m² |
| Row house | 36 m² | 28 m² |
So in a BP 220 project a 50 m² lot is below the minimum for a detached house, and fits a duplex or single-attached unit at socialized level, or a row house at either level. The same rules set yards of 1.5 m in front, 1.5 m at the side and 2.0 m at the rear, and require a firewall where a house is built up to the lot line. The BP 220 guide has every figure with its section and page.
One storey or two on a small lot
Once the footprint is fixed, the only way to more floor is up. A two-storey house on a 40 m² footprint has close to 80 m² of floor, less the stair, which takes space on both levels. Plan the stair first: the stair dimensions checker shows how many steps the height needs and how far the stair runs.
A second floor also changes the structure from the start. Footings and columns are sized for two storeys, and a house built for one storey with a second floor in mind needs that decided before the foundations are poured. The two-storey house guide covers planning both floors together, and the loft house guide covers the in-between option of a loft under a tall roof.
A 100 sqm lot
Double the land and the choice opens up. Under Section 708(a), a 100 m² inside lot allows up to 80 m² of footprint before setbacks, so a single-storey house of 50 to 60 m² with a small garden or carport is often possible, and a bungalow becomes a real option. A 100 m² lot is also above every BP 220 minimum, including the single detached house.
Why a 50 sqm plan from the internet rarely fits
A plan drawn for a 5 m by 10 m lot assumes the lot faces a certain way, sits beside certain neighbours and has a road on one particular side. Your lot’s orientation decides where the hot afternoon sun lands and where the breeze comes from, and the building office checks the setbacks against your title, not the plan’s. Use online plans to learn what you like, then have the house drawn for the lot you own.
The low budget simple house design guide covers building a small house for less without cutting what matters. Our custom house design service fits the house to your lot, your family and the rules your building office applies.
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