Which house would you buy? bigger living area or more bedrooms?

[firsttimer08]

We cannot decide between two houses.
House A: has open plan kitchen with space for a 4 chair dining table, smallish lounge, utility room and a largeish hall that can also double up as a dining area. 15k more than house B. It has 2 double and one single bedroom.

House B: Has one extra room, all bedrooms are much larger, more storage, but downstairs area is rather small. A smallish eat in kitchen barely fitting a four chair dining table and small lounge.

So essentially question is whether it is better to have a larger living area or more bedrooms. We can live without the extra bedroom, but it would come in handy when family come over from abroad for extended visits. House B is also in a gated development , so the safety aspect is a bonus esp in London.

I wonder whether 15k plus the loss loss.of extra bedroom and overall smaller bedrooms is a worthy tradeoff for an open plan kitchen and bigger dining space? Pls help me decide!

[thisisyesterday]

i would def go for house A.

you spend most of your time downstairs. bedrooms are only used for sleeping in.
i wish, wish, wish i had a separate dining room. we have a tiny hall, lounge/diner and a kitchen.
in the winter it feels like we just live in one room the whole time and i hate it

so, would def go for more downstairs space

[Lexilicious]

Living space, definitely.

[JumpJockey]

We were in a similar-ish situation and ended up going for the House A style with bigger living space, since that's where we'll be likely to spend more of our time - I wanted to have a room where I could make dinner and kids could be in the kitchen/diner with me rather than dashing out to make sure they'd not killed each other (YKWIM!). Also at this stage in our life the kids are little and will be sharing a room. If your DC(s) will want a room of their own, and you're likely to want them to spend time doing homework etc in their bedrooms, then maybe house B. It's really down to your family situation.

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

I'd go for the bigger living area too.

[mathanxiety]

The living space one. Though big open plan kitchens look horribly messy if you leave stuff out, lying around. But I hate a small kitchen, bumping into people if they join you there while cooking. So go for the large kitchen but put stuff away when you get it.

I think homework in bedrooms is a recipe for disaster -- better to do it in the large kitchen under your watchful eye.

[StarryEyedMama]

A all the way!

[northerngirl41]

I'd go for the extra living space... Especially if you could close off the dining room somehow and use it as a spare bedroom if needs be? (Doesn't sound like it, but it might be possible!)

[firsttimer08]

Hi there. We only have a 2.5yr old for now, so he doesnt use his room much and as everyone rightly points out, we spend most of day in the living area.

We were decided after reading the responses here too to go for house A. But last night i checked the crime statistics on the police.uk website and whilst this is a gatedcommunity the crime statistics are really high there. I did notice many of the houses when we visited, had burgular alarms but did not make the connection. Of there have been incidents (the website states asbos, violent crime and robbery) i wld certainly bot feel safe in that house. I wouldlike to find out more but not sure how as i dont think the police wld give more details on the crime statistics. Should i ask the vendor?i guess this isa new thread all together.!

[firsttimer08]

Sorry lots of typos, this touch screen is annoying!

[jimswifein1964]

Well, you need to be in the area at a variety of times to get a feel for it. You mean the general area is crime-ridden, not inside the gates (I assume!), so you'd feel very locked-in. Are they both in a gated estate? Your op sounded like just house B was.

Tbh, my answer was house A, but if its gated, then no way.I dont like gated estates; they seem very cut-off from the community. And are usually new-build ie flimsy with thin walls and no character!!

[minibmw2010]

I have read that the crime statistic website is pretty rubbish and even the police don't rate is as it's considered pretty unreliable so I'm not sure I'd base a decision on that. A lot of our neighbours have alarms and have never had problems,it's more prevention than anything else.

[Longtalljosie]

I'm not sure either is the house for you tbh...

[Chandon]

you KNOW which house you like best.

Go for that one.

[LunarRose]

House A

[firsttimer08]

I don't mind a gated development personally. My husband works long hours and I think (thought) a gated development would generally be safer in that respect. In any case the crime statistics seems to suggest that the incidents have occurred inside the development itself - so perhaps some of the 'potential' neighbours !!!