Another day, another opportunity to attack the living standards of millennials.

If young people aren’t being told they’ll never own homes because of an insistence on eating lavish brunches, then they’re being criticised for a sense of entitlement, laziness and being ill-equipped for the big bad world.

Now an architect has claimed that living rooms are surplus to requirements for young people. Who needs space to relax, socialise and watch TV when you can eat, sleep and have friends round all in the comfort of your tiny studio apartment?

Patrik Schumacher, whose experience includes working on the London Aquatics Centre built for the Olympics, argues that centrally-located “hotel room-sized” studio flats are ideal for busy young people. “For many young professionals who are out and about networking 24/7,” he writes, “a small, clean, private hotel-room sized central patch serves their needs perfectly well.”

Too busy eating avocado on toast to desire a living room, I imagine. But whilst we can laugh to avoid despairing at the ridiculousness of it all, ‘generation rent’ are already having to contend with no living rooms, with an extra body often being packed in to help cut down costs.

But this shouldn’t mean that “solutions” are presented that justify these standards – or sub-standards – of living. Schumacher argues that if we decrease the minimum requirement of a home in the UK (the minimum size is currently 38 square metres), it opens options for people earning less.

This could be plausible if you squint your eyes. Yet in over-populated cities like Hong Kong, “coffin homes” see spaces, sometimes as small as a single mattress, rented out to up to 200,000 people, it’s believed. The UN condemns them as an appalling affront to human dignity. Do we really want to go in that direction?

I remember when going into my second year at university, I and two friends began the hunt for a rented property. It was our first foray into the world of renting and we were both excited and bewildered.

As it happened one of my friends’ parents had their own idea – buying a two-bedroom apartment for the three of us. We somewhat naively agreed. When it transpired their daughter would occupy what should have been the large living room, leaving myself and the other friend to decide who would get the double or single bedroom, we yet again stayed silent. I can’t blame the parents for being savvy, but I can vow never to sell myself short again. Having a living room is a crucial feature in a home; a place to relax and socialise away from where you sleep is important to a healthy lifestyle.

Whilst the housing crisis could well mean that many young people will never own their own home, that doesn’t mean we should stay quiet while others decide what’s best. Presenting ideas that further shaft young people isn’t a solution; we need to go back to the drawing board.