To buy a house I feel is too small

What are the measurements of the bedrooms? I have raised three children in my house which has a smaller area. I have no dining room, same size living room and slightly larger kitchen by a 1 foot each way..

i think you are in the situation where you have expanded your possessions to fill the space available. To make this work you have to give up on the ‘inevitable’ attitude regarding how many possessions you all have. Declutter now and I think you will be pleased at the amount of extra space you have.

Edit: I thought I was creating my own thread! Sorry, will try and make my own one. This doesn't relate to the OP

Hi I have a question about a shared ownership house that I may be moving into with my husband and 1 year old. The only problem is it's quite bit small and I'm not sure about some things on the lease like the length and how the rent rises are calculated
Here's my pros and cons list for the house, what would you do if it was you?

Pros

• It's the perfect area, near outstanding schools for my 1 year old
• The street is very family friendly, kids and good community
• good parking
• it's cheaper than what I pay now in rent
• shared ownership, foot on the housing ladder we wouldn't get otherwise
• 3 bedrooms, up from 2
• near some people I know in a city without my family
• attic and large shed for storage
• would feel like a secure family home, could have another baby which we want.

Cons

• the bedrooms are quite small, the downstairs doesn't have much space, no utility room only a small kitchen and small lounge
• The previous owner hasn't taken care of the house, broken window, holes in wall, bathroom needs entirely replacing
• it's shared ownership, we will be at the mercy of a housing association, can't make changes without their permission. Etc
• rent rises are yearly and based on RPI, newer new builds scrapped this as its unfair to tenants, anxious about buying into this
• lease length is 112 years left, we would move in 10 years time, but we would HAVE to move since the lease length will look unattractive the longer we wait
• when we move its unlikely we will be able to get a house in the same area
• shared ownership so I'm not sure if we will build much equity in 10 years time as the deposit will be small and the housing association will take 60%

I think I could make do with the smaller house, if I knew it would be secure in terms of the rent rises and lease length

What would you do?

Single brick is normal and nothing to be concerned about. Most older houses are single brick. Mine is. My concern would be that it’s leasehold. How long is the lease? I’m not sure I’d want a leasehold house ever.

I'm going to go against the grain and say if it feels too small now it will feel even smaller as the kids get bigger. Teenagers take up a lot of space!

To be blunt: very few people can afford to but in the same area they’ve been renting (or where they work, come to that). You’re going to have to chooae between a house the right size for you, or moving to a cheaper area, or renting for life 😬

We chose the 1 hr commute miles from family for the big house and its great but you may feel differently 🤷‍♀️

We have oil and an ancient old boiler, we did look at getting a combi but are undecided because wherever they put it, it will cause problems like replacing flooriing or having pipes up the interior walls. Combi boilers can apparently be quite big and the one we were recommended is the same size as our old boiler but can't go in the convenient boiler alcove so we'd lose space elsewhere by changing. Another plus of a smaller house is less to clean! I also have a sort of motto that any furniture needs to have a storage element so we have 2 ottoman beds, a kitchen trolley that offers more storage and also counter space etc.

When I first viewed my house I thought it was tiny in comparison to my rental.i walked straight out. But after a couple of weeks contemplating it was what I could really afford rather than a bigger place that would stretch my finances mortgage wise, I went back and realised that we could make it work.

We've been here several years now and I actually love my little house. Having a smaller place is a great way of not collecting loads of junk, you only have what you need. Cheaper energy bills.

We have a 'small' house, living and dining rooms are 13'8 by 9'8 and we have no hallway really, the front door opens onto a small area at the bottom of the stairs with the downstairs rooms either side. Our kitchen is 9'4 by 9'3 but has a utility big enough for white goods and boots/coats. I actually find it fine, I was really worried it would be too small but I like the layout. We use one room for a big corner sofa, tv and kids toys and the other for a dining table pushed against the window and a chair/sideboard etc. We do have a big understairs cupboard which helps. If I were you I would use the smaller room as a sitting room and think about a corner sofa if you can, they seem huge but it seems to free up more floor space. Our house is solid wall and whilst not warm it isn't freezing either. Its a lot more pleasant in the heat than our old 1960s build. What sort of heating does it have?

It doesn't have to be your dream house to get you on the ladder. Have a really ruthless declutter, and go to Ikea and get some clever storage. You'll make it work. Families have lived in those kind of houses for generations and successfully raised their children in them.

I live in quite a small house that i can't extend, (2 rooms downstairs, three small bedrooms) but it's big enough for us. Let go of the idea that you should be entitled to a bigger or better house, and ask yourself if it's good enough for now. I bought mine thinking Id be there for a couple of years then move again but actually i love that we haven't tied ourselves into a huge mortgage that we can't pay with the cost of living increase. If we had moved to the big 4 bed with a garage i was dreaming of, we would be right up the creek now.

Sorry - I should say - we have TWO sheds and had the loft floored for storage.

We live in a very small three bed house. It's tiny really, two rooms downstairs and no proper hallway. We do have three bedrooms but we also have three kids so the eldest two have to share.

Honestly, it's fine. I am sometimes a bit embarrassed about it when my friends with swanky houses come over, but I actually love our house. We bought later in life after we both lost money on break-ups/divorce and in other property, so we just never had the budget that some of our friends do.

Plus side is, we both work part time. It's not an expensive house and if something happens economically then we can manage.

We will try to move at some point so the kids can have their own rooms (they are still young and would choose to share) but only for that reason, I would happily stay here.

OP all houses built before a certain date had solid brick walls, don’t pay it any mind at all - where I live the Victorian terraces sell on a regular basis and it’s not something that anyone ever worries about.

We did it. Moved from a large 4 bed semi rental to buy a slightly bigger than average 3 bed terrace. It's not our dream house but it'll do as our first step on the ladder. We'd never be able to buy a 4 bed in our area (also home counties) without building some equity elsewhere first.

It can be cramped but we make it work. YY to decluttering before moving, and again once you've moved and seen where everything fits.

I really wouldn't. The single brick, cold and harder to sell on would really bother me. And I hate homes with freehold. I really value separate living spaces. Silly things like is there a space for everyone's shoes or will you constantly be walking over a pile in the tiny hallway. But my priorities are different to yours.

Absolutely go for it. I know 2 different couples that did this last year, both downsizing from rental, it's going really well for both of them

My husband has just said, if it's single brick,

1. you can't cavity wall insulate.
2. If you wish to sell in the future it make be difficult, as Building Societies are sometimes loathed to lend on single brick houses. It must be very difficult for you .

Is it two or three bed?
It's an ok size imo, but you would need to be strict on clutter.

If anyone is like me and struggling to picture it, this Persimmon home has just under the 800 ft sq. (I managed to find a listing for a house like my sister's first house that is apparently just under 700 ft sq so used that as a guide in my head)

www.persimmonhomes.com/new-homes/teesside/harebell-meadows/the-haldon/2-bedroom-end-terrace-ifhdanzxgjcq

There may not be room for a staircase up to the loft, but you could install a loft ladder. I'm sure you know the kind of thing. Then use for luggage Christmas tree and decorations etc
Can you give us an idea of the individual room size, rather than just the overall square footage.
And please bare in mind the ever increasing cost of heating a house. Small can equal comfort in winter.

Go for it - there are loads of ways to make it feel bigger. Declutter. Smart storage. Large sheds.

The next few years are going to be brutal with interest rates and energy bills. You’ll be so grateful to be in an affordable, cosy house. And the relief you’ll have to be in the right place for school decisions will be priceless.