AIBU to think my small family doesn't need a bigger house?

Stay put, I reckon. I grew up in a big house with a lovely garden, and have had constant guilt of not being able to provide the same for my two DC, but unforeseen life events mean that staying in a small but affordable house was the best decision.

it has had its challenges, mainly around the single toilet, but the DC have grown up reasonably satisfied with their circumstances, and enjoyed the benefits of the town centre location which I would have envied in my teens, as I was “stuck” out in a “boring” village!

it’s a massive relief financially now that we didn’t upsize… life can throw curveballs, and being comfortable now doesn’t mean you will be in a decade or two down the road.

For me as long as your children all have their own room then you have plenty of space.

We have a similar mindset with owning things, we are a 6 figure household but both of our cars are old, and finance free. My husband earns 6 figures on his own and drives a 10 year old Vauxhall Astra.

We put more money into savings, over paying on the mortgage.

As someone with the big house and gardens, I wish for smaller of both to make it more manageable and be mortgage free. I’d love to max out my ISA yearly rather than pay a fairly high mortgage for something which just isn’t needed for a small family. I think you are making such a sensible choice

I follow that lady on Youtube. I do wonder how much her house cost though, even though it's quite small compared to other London homes on SM.

I spent the first 5 years of my first marriage in a caravan, with one baby,(being made homeless after burglary forced closure of jewellery store ex h managed and we lived above. )Interestingly,all my dks prefer small scale living, flats,Maisonettes, even one with 4 dks has plumped for a cottage.

I wouldn't under-estimate the importance of a garden, particularly for children, that can be enjoyed all year round over short term 'cool' holidays or days out. My, now adult, DC's memories' of childhood resonate far more toward home (camping in the garden etc) than holidays

It’s an investment too. Upsize when you have kids downsize when you don’t. Depends how tight you are for cash though. If you won’t be able to afford a holiday etc if you upsize then probably better to stick where you are.

I would move as when kids turn into teenagers and suddenly your house seems to shrink ! That’s just from experience ! If you have a lot of spare money is probably the best way to see a return though I know not always ! Think what your priorities are in a house and just start exploring the idea ! Maybe give yourself a time limit like 2 years if you never find anything then not meant to be !

As long as she can comfortably have a single bed, a wardrobe and a desk, I don’t see the issue. I would suggest just imagine if she will be comfortable in her room when she is a teenager, not a toddler. For example, we are planning to buy a bigger house just because the room of our 3 baby is a tiny (3m x 1.5m). So we ll def need more space for her in the future.

Quite.

I think that's absolutely wonderful and I love the community space your friends mum created!
I won't pretend that having zero privacy (as an introvert) isn't really hard hough. I think we can look at those situations from the outside and think it's sort of charming when in reality it's not necessarily that way

Maybe they don’t want more children … or can’t! Why should they have more children just because they are financially stable?!!

Stay put of you’re happy there. You don’t have to make a lifelong decision now anyway, if you are not happy at some point, then look to move. You talk about upgrading, can you do a loft conversion?

Why not have more children? Sounds like you can more than afford to? A big house isn’t as important as family

that being said yes when she’s older she is likely to want a second bathroom and more space

depends what you are going to spend all this disposable income on?

Look at Little House in London on FB - I have dreams of downsizing somewhere just like it!

I think if your house works for you now, you can stay put. Put the money aside and you can always reassess later! If your daughter needs more space at 15, then save until then and you’ll have a much larger down payment when and if you decide that you do need the space. But there’s no need to move now because at some future date, you might want something nicer or bigger. If you saved the money now then you can always change your mind and look at moving to a bigger property/nicer area/whatever. And saving the money for having a larger down payment if and when that time ever happens is never gonna be a bad move.

Where do you live?

I think you may feel differently when she's bigger/older and has more hobbies and belongings.

i dont think its the size that is important its more important to feel safe and happy where you live. if you dont dread the key opening the door and not stressing about the space and your child has a place to sleep and everything she needs with things she enjoys then it really is not anyone else’s problem to be honest. gratitude of a roof bed amenities and food and recognition of that blessing is what should be an example to your daughter and if anyone is interested in your home and life to make it there buisness then clearly its a problem with them and sounds more likely they want you to struggle instead of security believe it or not. obviously this is opinion based on experience of people wanting to pull me down from my happiness and not really knowing that until it was too late and no one cared when i ended up in a crisis just trying to help others. they didnt care when there own ego wasnt under theat. wish id of known and understood that sooner.

Why?
Surely it depends where you live - anything half decent is going within a day where I live, usually with multiple offers over asking price.

I remember my best friends house when I was a teenager. There were her mum and stepdad, she was in one box room, her sister and niece in a bedroom , 4 brothers in large room with sets of bunks and baby brother shared with parents. No garden as it was a top floor maisonette

Always loads of friends hanging about there. Her mum used to cook massive pots of chicken rice and peas for us to help ourselves.

Another friend shared her room with her sister( smallest room there) 3 brothers shared and parents had their room

That was another house where we were all welcome

So it's not much to do with space

where I live, houses the size of 50 sq m cost 450k...so many of us live right where we are and never move

We never upgraded our small semi, even though on paper we could have easily afforded to. Mortgage paid off early and we always had money for holidays and days out, that’s been with me working part time too. No regrets.

It sounds small 2 bed

small garden and can’t fit a double in the 2nd bedroom so it’s prob a 2 up /down

which is fine as a toddler. Not so much as a teen imo

This isn't the first thread I've seen on here extolling the virtues of small homes with lots of people joining in keen to do likewise. Are you sponsored by housebuilders?