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Original poster

To buy a house I feel is too small

33 replies

GeriatricMillennial · 04/08/2022 19:48

My husband and I are finally in the process of buying our first house, a good decade or so after most people we know. We have two young children, 3 and nine months, and no plans to have any more, but I’m starting to feel concerned the house we are going for is already too small. it is approx 800sq ft and I believe v little possibility to extend - it is a leasehold owned by the town’s heritage foundation and I don’t think we would get permission to cut down a mature tree that is growing close to the back of the house where we would extend out. There isn’t space for a staircase to go up into the loft.

I’m trying to tell myself that we’ll make it work, but looking around at the piles of stuff on EVERY spare surface and corner in our larger rental, I think it will feel quite cluttered and claustrophobic. However, if we pull out now there is nothing else in the area I would want to buy, and we would be paying more on a new mortgage with interest rates going up. Though this would still be much much less costly than having to move out in a few years to get more space I know!

We could possibly stretch our budget very slightly, but in the extortionate Home County we live in, this won’t go far, and would probably be a more ugly house in a worse location. I feel some time pressure to move as I would really like to be in situ to make the primary school application deadline by January.

This does feel very first world problems as we are so lucky to be able to buy anything at all, but has anyone been in this boat before? Are we making a big mistake?

OP posts:
confusedlots · 04/08/2022 20:26

It's around the same size as my first house. I bought it on my own before I met DH, then married and DH moved in and we raised our 2 children there until they were 3 and 4 years old. I felt it was definitely getting too small for us by the time we moved, but it was ok in those earlier years.

I would go for it to get on the property ladder, but you should both agree what your future plan is. Will you extend? Or maybe move again in a few years time? And if you move, what impact will that have with regards to schools.

Umbellifer · 04/08/2022 20:16

The house itself sounds lovely and it’s very slightly larger than my Victorian 2up2down terrace. That worked fine for four of us but we were v focused on being tidy, not too much junk everywhere and all the beds had storage underneath.

that size of house was built to house a family, often four kids or even more, we’ve just got it into our heads that we need loads of stuff and then need loads of space to put it in.

has the one you like got two beds or three, and it sounds like there is outdoor space where you could put a shed?

as you say the last thing you want atm is to stretch your mortgage, so I’d go with the place you’ve found and mostly sound happy about, and think about how to make that work.

hairymclaryforever · 04/08/2022 20:14

F

pinksquash13 · 04/08/2022 20:12

It doesn't sound easy. With mortgage rates going up and primary school deadline I'd move and make it work personally. Get reading about clever storage. Take a stroll around ikea.

AntlerRose · 04/08/2022 20:12

A house doesnt need to be pretty but location matters.
Its compact at 800 but you are at peak stage for cumbersome items like buggies, highchairs and toys which will pass.
any room for a decent garden shed.

Mum5net · 04/08/2022 20:10

Have you just ‘drifted’ into gathering clutter? Do you have it in you to reform in the opposite direction and operate with only half the possessions you own? I think that’s where you can resolve this problem.
I’m trying to declutter a four bedroom house so we can downsize to a two bedroom, although no little people like you have …. It’s blooming hard!

Goldunicorn · 04/08/2022 20:10

And what other options would there be for additional space and / or storage? E.g. garage conversion, or garden room, or shed?

frenchie4002 · 04/08/2022 20:01

What specifically about the house feels to small? The actual size of the rooms? The amount of rooms? Storage solutions? Remember when you move a lot of clutter can be cleared/chucked in the loft.

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