To leave my tiny house in a perfect town for a bigger house in an area I’m not sure about.

Don’t move.

Stay where you are and extend. I had a two bed terrace. I’ve extended downstairs and squeezed in a loft extension bedroom with en-suite (are you sure you can’t do a loft extension? I didn’t think I could but I’ve managed it! Get a left extension specialist and see what they say). My downstairs is now one great big room and everyone comes to me! It’s an absolute party room. Tiny house. One big room! I love it and am so so glad I didn’t move.

I extended and have no regrets. My children's teen years have been so much easier with a choice of excellent schools and extracurricular activities within walking/cycling distance; I am able to walk to work and to cafes, theatres, the gym, restaurants, concerts etc. My closest friend lives a couple of streets away. I feel part of a community. Some of my friends have bigger houses, and they enjoy their lives too, but I wouldn't swap.

I went from a two up two down to having a living room with an extended kitchen/diner and a loo under the stairs, on the ground floor, and three double bedrooms and a teeny bathroom upstairs. The garden is small but it's a south facing sun-trap.

I love my house, sands my kids have said they are very pleased that they live in such sad central and convenient location.

Could you please message me the town? I’m looking for somewhere to move to!

Meant to add these photos of a place near me- this is what the kitchen/ diner might look like.

I wouldn't move.

Extend, stay put and aggresively clutter.
Maybe an outbuilding in the garden?

Also Look at an allotment or something if more outdoor space is desired.

This is an idea for a floor plan from your existing floor plan, extending backwards (I wasn’t sure if your last message meant you wanted to extend at the front). This would give you more than enough space for 3 beds and a decent open plan kitchen/ diner downstairs. I’d probably go as far back as you can- if your existing back garden isn’t huge all you really need is space to sit out and have a coffee. You could have a sofa bed in the lounge and partition doors, or use bed 3 as a spare when you have guests.

This assumes you could put windows on the right hand side (you said you were end terrace) but if that’s not possible it’s not the end of the world (you can manage a downstairs loo without a window and you could put a light tube into the upstairs bathroom).

I'd extend. Location and the friends you have made is enough.

Not moving means less use of estate agents, some of whom are legalised spivs and about as honest as Robert Jenrick.

OP said that they cannot extend into the loft so needs to be creative with the main house space...

Location wins every time.

Extend, do the loft, focus on savings, declutter, enjoy a place you love.

I have the tiny house in a gorgeous market town and would chose it again and again and again. We were in a tiny one bed years after all our circle had bought 3 bed semis in less nice locations, usually new build estates with less going on. We finally upgraded to a small 3 bed last year (could get 4 bed detached 5 miles up the road) about 5 years later than everyone else but our lifestyle from the location of the house is amazing. We can walk to all the lovely local amenities and use them frequently and have got to know plenty of people in the lovely community. There are loads of community events that we walk to where our friends fight for parking to attend.

Some friends are now trying to get their kids places in the schools in this town despite having to drive in each morning, others are now considering moving in but the jump in prices is either too much or they will need to compromise on the house from their current property.

I also find living in a small house makes me tough on stuff and clutter where I previously had a tendency to hoard. We’ve thought hard about and invested into storage in this house and whilst it’s not huge, it is “enough”- the extension sounds like a lovely way to achieve this!

Stay put until all of you are desperate for extra space. Meanwhile be clever with the space you have. Get a small garden pod to create a space for alone time
or quiet working. Don’t accumulate junk.

My friend, that is a no brainer. Stay where you are.

Put your sofa and TV in the dining area. Then make your master bedroom where the living room is. That way your DC get a bedroom each as they grow. It involves no structural work to the property and saves money.

You could buy a folding leaf table for the kitchen. Ikea are great for these space saving solutions. Some of which I use in my own home.

Location, location, location.

It’s expensive and stressful to move. Everyone is different, which would give you more satisfaction and enjoyment. For some it’s a location and lifestyle (all the walks, beach etc) and a smaller house is ok. For some a bigger house with space to live and spread is what brings joy. Which are you?

You’ve obviously lived lots of places and tried lots of different living arrangements hopefully you can use your experience to help guide you

Location, location, location!

Op don’t be embarrassed about your house with relation to play dates- all kids want to do is play and all adults want if/ when they can pop in, is the chat !!!

Similar to our floor plan but our living room is more oblong so we have space for a small dining table. Can’t really tell the size obviously but we squeezed a small breakfast bar/butchers block into our kitchen for more worktop space and has given us a dining space if we don’t have a table, part boarded the loft, have storage ottoman beds and tall wardrobes so more storage, and we have a small garden room which we use as an extra sitting room if any of us have friends round for some privacy. We have the smaller bedroom also and DS has larger so all his stuff fits in his room rather than all over the rest of the house. It is actually fine. Would love more space but love the area so it was a compromise. Get a decent sofa bed or chair bed for the living room if you want a spare room. My mum uses ours or hubby uses it and she gets in with me if she stays over (only person that ever does/needs to).

Similar situation to me Could have bigger place in the next town but much prefer living here.

I stayed as wanted kids in good schools and doing things that didn't involve roaming the streets. ATc, St Johns ambulance, cubs etc

Even now they've grown I still like where I live, lots going on, many friends etc

Been thinking about this, and how long realistically would it be before you could afford a bigger house where you are?

Because while its manageable to live in a 2 bed for the next few years, you really will need to upsize at some point before they hit the tweens stage. And that 85k would make a massive difference to what you could buy when that happens.

If it is unlikely that you will be able to make the move for atleast ten years then I would bite the bullet and move to the other town now before you become even more entrenched and wont have to deal with moving schools etc.

The kids ages are good for making new connections via school, play dates etc.

House C.

I certainly would not be embarrassed. Stay put