Inner city convenience or outdoor space in the 'burbs?

[Allegrogirl]

We live in a smallish city within walking distance of the city centre and historic quayside area. Our house is a good size Victorian terrace with a small back yard and on street parking. DH and I have been going round in circles trying to decide whether to move to family friendly suburbs or smaller town outside of the city. I'm really torn as I love our house. DH is being really fussy. Wants 3 doubles (which we now have), drive, garage, garden, period features etc. We can't afford all that!

Reasons to stay:
Large rooms and lovely period features in current property
Walking distance to city centre shops and waterfront
Ofsted 'Good' school well liked by locals very close. DD1 due to start Sept '12.
Good access to roads out of the city and to work for both of us
Generally quiet (apart from students) and safe area
Good mortgage deal which we will lose if we move
Cost and inconvenience of moving with two small children

Reasons to go:
I don't like the layout - small kitchen and impossible to change due to being on a hill (steps down to kitchen)
Would like a garden
Would like drive and/or garage (DH wants an old car to play with)
Student house next door. Great neighbours some years, awful in others.
Planning granted for student halls on wasteland behind the house.
Don't have close friends in area. Some have moved to 'naice' areas in last 2-3 years.

Has anyone made the move to a smaller house for the bigger outdoor space?

[fussychica]

For me your reasons to go outweigh those to stay, particularly the planning for building behind you. If you are on a tight budget there are sooo many compromises - just come back from abroad and as we are unable to sell our house there due to the economic situation we have purchased somewhere smaller than we would like without the fab garden we were looking for but the priority was detached and the area - everything else took us over budget so I know how hard it is.

[oreocrumbs]

I would choose to move in your situation. I do think a garden with a young family is a huge plus. Of course you can manage without, but the ability to chuck them out in the garden to wear themselves out is great.

Also neighbours can be the bane of your life, and I'd be wary of the building of student halls. The more studenty it gets the more people will rent out houses, then you get a high turnover of neighbours and have more chance of getting annoying ones.

Could you cut back on 3 double beds? Are you planning more DC? Could 2 doubles work where they share a bedroom and use the 3rd bed as a playroom. Or just draw straws over who gets the biggest bedroom?

If you can get a better layout downstairs you can use that for storage and will need less bedroom space. There are such clever storage solutions now, with careful planning and getting organised from the start you may find a smaller but better laid out house is more family friendly.

The main thing that would keep me there would be the mortgage. Can you transfer it to a new house or will you have to lose the rate?

[Devora]

I was going to vote to stay until I read about the student halls. I moved from central London out to the suburbs, driven by house prices (went from a small flat to a 4 bed house with garden, for not much more money), the imminent arrival of dd2, the need for schools, and wanting a bit more of a settled community. I don't regret it, but if I could have stayed central with just a little more room and a good school, I would have stayed.

Having said that, nightmare neighbours are a nightmare. And I think it's important to have a network of friends in the neighbourhood when you have small children.