I am also English. My brother, who still lives over there, just had to buy a new fridge and, yes, it is still a tiny, under-counter model ;-) However, he also has a good sized chest freezer in the garage - the same sort of set-up I had when living there. Most regular, older houses just don't have room for bigger fridges in the kitchen so you find a lot of compact models in the appliance stores.
Otoh, the large Amana fridge/freezers have been popular for some time with those who are fortunate enough to have bigger kitchens.