To think this house IS big enough

Bloody hell, the rooms are small. There's hardly any floor space once beds and furniture are in. Storage???

With a family of 5 you haven't got enough space downstairs to entertain guests anyway unless you use the garden so no need for a guest bedroom. I'd make smallest bedroom the office. Biggest bedroom for 2 dc with bunks to give some play space. Bedroom 2 for you and dh. Bedroom 3 for 1 dc.

That achieves what you need for minimal expense. What you would spend on converting garage/building garden office can be put to one side to help finance a bigger, more suitable house further down the road.

You would have to move anyway as this is clearly a house with small rooms - because in a few years as DC become older they will be needing space, storage and privacy - somewhere to do homework etc. Also the kitchen seems to be too small to be able to provide for so many too.

We have a small 3 bed and have 3 children. We made what is essentially a coat storage/inner lobby area into a wfh space for dh. Yes he can touch all the walls with his arms outstretched, and no one can use the downstairs loo when he is in there, but it can fit a desk and his computer in and he can get his work done which is the main thing!

If you’re 70% likely to move in the future, regardless of having a third, I don’t think you should be doing anything big like taking out an en-suite or converting the garage. I think taking the en-suite out will take money off the house price. Converting the garage probably wouldn’t need planning permission but you will need building regs, our garage is partly converted and getting the previous owner to say whether they had building regs and an indemnity because they didn’t took forever.

Is it both of you that WFH? If it’s just you, I’d do a fold away desk in the living room and then during school holidays go to a shared
office space or the office so you’re not disturbed by the kids. If it’s DH WFH and you’ll be on maternity leave, he needs to be out of the way, so it’s a garden pod.

I do think it’s important to have a guest room but we don’t have any family nearby so it’s more than once a week that our guest bedroom is used. However, our old house we didn’t have one and everyone understood. It limits how much people can visit because they are paying for hotels but I guess it depends how frequent people visit and whether when they visit they offer support E.g. childcare in school holidays. If that’s the case, I’d look at getting your eldest a double then your youngest a bunk bed with sofa bed underneath. When you have guests siblings share and guests go in the double.

Why do UK newbuild houses have so many tiny bathrooms? Are they targeting people with extreme poo/toilet phobia type issues who panic at the thought of using a toilet that other family members also use? Or is it something to do with the legal requirement to provide a ground floor toilet?

This is the inspiration we showed the designer and he worked with the room we had, so although my girls share a room they each have their own private space. Definitely mire cost effective than moving and cheaper than I thought it would be.

https://pin.it/5FmQR7jAD

A friend made a space under the stairs for her ‘office’. It was tight but it gave all the kids their rooms back?

I think it would technically be doable but will feel cramped.

I would prioritise my DC having their own space over my wfh set up personally. I would look into converting the garage and put a small desk in my bedroom in the meantime. I wouldn't be bothered about losing the spare bedroom but personally I wouldn't have another child if it meant my existing DC had to share a room. I appreciate others will feel differently though and some kids may be happy sharing.

I gave up the office when we had our second child, and installed my desk in a corner of the living/dining room.

Highly amused at "you need two lounges when you have teenagers." How many people in the UK have two lounges?!? I guess 90% of UK kids must vaporize when the clock strikes 12 on their 13th birthday.

It could only work if you're prepared to convert the garage or ruin the already small garden with an office. I'd probably do the garage conversion and budget around £20k for it. But then you've lost your storage area.

Off the top of my head
Lose the " guest room" and juggle bedrooms for guest to stay.. kids in your room or you use lounge when you have visitors
Put an office in an en-suite
You can manage with one bathroom if needs be
" shortie bunks" or custom made beds that go in at angles.. loads of options for those
Garden pod for office( off the top of my head 10k) Use as a multipurpose space for kids playroom etc
You will manage, it just means thinking outside the box and adapting space available
I had 3 boys in a tiny house( triple bunk/ room divider, we gave them the biggest room)
Vertical storage where necessary
Multipurpose furniture incorporating storage eg lift up beds

Unless by "have another child" you mean "adopt another grown child immediately" I think you're over thinking it.

Any child you start trying to conceive now is going to take at least 9 months to show up, closer to a year if not more most likely. Then you've got a minimum of six months where they're in with you - if you're pushed for space it could be longer.

Anything can happen in that amount of time. One of you switches jobs to one that doesn't require home working. You move to be closer to elderly family. The house of your dreams comes up as a massive bargain down the street.

I live in a much smaller house than this (mid terraced house with no garden plus it's only a 3 bedroom) with 3 children and I also work from home. Bespoke built in furniture in all the bedrooms, under the stairs, in the living room and utility room was the only way to make it work - the company that did it specialised in space saving and making practical use of every part of the house and its honestly amazing what they've been able to do.

A family of 5 can fit in a 4 bed house. Thats beyond doubt given bigger families live in smaller. Generally because there is no choice. The fact there is dissonance in your case implies that there is a choice and possibly a debate.

My personal opinion is that children having their own room is more important than a home office and or guest bedroom. A regularly used office is more important than a guest bedroom. At the end of the day this can be affordable for some people and not for others. Just like kids not sharing is an affordability issue.

perhaps explain the issue that sits behind your question.

But kids wfh doing homework and it’s good for them to have their own rooms to do that.

How big is the garden? If you have the space a garden room/office would be a good solution and is desirable for potential buyers when the time comes to move.

There are literally millions of families in this country who share a shower between 4 or more people. Our bathroom has one shower one toilet and one sink between 4 adults. We manage fine as do the millions of other people who have a set up like this. It is perfectly doable and has never caused us any problems.

It’s on the small side. I’d struggle with that space in your circumstances.

This is not a need at all, as evidenced by the many families with teens in two and three bedroom, one reception room houses all over the country.

Is it just me who thinks the obvious thing is to use the spare room as an office for now. Put a cot in it when the yet to exist third child moves out of parents’ room. That child won’t need a room they have to use in the day until they’re about school age and will cope with someone working in there until 17:30 every day. will they be in childcare after school anyway?
In 6 years you may be able to get a bigger place or just cope with a shared bedroom for a few years until uni age.

They already live there…