If you own a flat/small house

[fairynick]

Do you ever regret your decision?
First time buyer and the opportunity has arose to buy a very small house. It’s a fantastic price, nice new build, and is a good location for us.
We are a young couple, childless, and it isn’t in our five year plan to have children. This property therefore seems to suit us.
The only thing that’s making me hesitant is that I always envisioned having a place where I could host gatherings/have barbecues etc. It will not be possible with this house.
If you have a small property, do you hate not being able to host or is it a small price to pay to get on the ladder? :)

Is there any potential for a roof terrace?

Not being able to host is a bonus for me I'm very sociable but don't really like having people round to my house. I once moved from a 2 bed to a 1 bed as I was sick of loved ones using me as a hotel. No regrets!

Small wouldn't put me off, no garden would. Even in our tiny first maisonette we had a garden, subsequent flat we had a large balcony and a private garden, small as it was but still outside space.

Don’t touch no garden with a barge pole! You’ll never sell it - this site is currently full of people currently trying to sell places with no outside space with no luck

Yes I regret it- l actually could have afforded bigger and now I’m priced out as the areas around where I live went up in value quicker than my house, also now I have children my earning potential is stunted.
I hate thinking about Xmas and the lack of hosting space, my table sits 4, anyone else eats on the sofa.

I would not buy a house without a garden. I'd rather buy a flat.

We bought a small terraces house which needed everything doing to it. I really wish we had been and to stretch to something slightly bigger at the time because even just thinking about another project makes me feel tired.

I don't get this. I know loads of people who live in small flats but manage to have people over for dinner, drinks etc.

I’m super glad we bought. I live in a 2 bedroom house with DP and I much prefer the security and freedom of owning vs renting. Also a small place doesn’t mean you can’t host. We have an extendable dining table and push other furniture out of the way. I’ve been to parties at my friend’s flat which has 3 rooms (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/living room) with at least 20 people without a problem.
That said, I would be concerned that you would struggle to sell a house without a garden later on.

I wouldn't buy a house without a garden. People kind of expect flats to not have a private garden but most people will expect a house to have a garden. And for resale that is what I would think about.

We have a very small (upstairs) 3 bedroom house with a small garden and we do ok, you have to think of clutter and storage with a small place but there are so many storage ideas these days it's easier than it used to be.

If I were you I would say no to this one and look for a house with a garden or a flat that will be larger.

I think most of us would have started off in a small starter home/fixer upper/flat, but probably wouldn't compare to the tiny new builds of today - particularly the eye-watering prices (area dependent, but don't know how anyone could afford to upsize from there).

Is it 'help to buy' that's opened up the ftb to you?
Where are you, what sort of deposit do you have, what further saving could you do, and is this the only sort of property open to you?
No outside space is a big disadvantage.

What are the other options? A flat with a balcony is a good mid way option. Also what is there nearby? A coffee shop/pub/park? These go a long way.

I have had 16 people to dinner in my 46sqm one bed flat. It involves (beautifully decorated!) trestle tables in the living room, using the sofa as seating too, and people congregate in the separate kitchen beforehand for drinks. It also has a large garden for summer entertaining.

So a small property doesn’t rule out entertaining - you just have to find the right one.

When I was younger I used to dream of owning a new build because they seemed so swish and lovely, but having heard many many horror stories over the years I'm now so glad I didn't buy one! There are a lot of them popping up around here claiming to be "affordable" but starting around £290k, which is NOT the average for the area...

We bought a 3-bed house with a large-ish back garden in February this year; for me personally a lack of garden wouldn't have been dealbreaker (I lived in a two-bed terrace with a very small stone yard prior to this and managed, but then I prefer to lounge on the sofa than lounge on the lawn ) but as PP have said for a lot of people the lack of garden will be a major sticking point, particularly with the fear of more lockdowns or not being able to get away on holidays, and if you plan to sell later on that might be something to factor in. I will say that it was nice to have a garden with lots of sunlight and a picnic table/bench etc when we had a couple of friends over for drinks and chat earlier in the year before you were supposed to meet indoors.

In terms of the house size alone, a smaller house wouldn't really bother me, but then we don't have any plans to have children in the future. I follow a lot of people on instagram who live in/beautifully decorate tiny homes or little studio apartments and while I'm not sure I could shove all my clothes and books and general tat into such a small space personally, I can definitely see the appeal of a smaller home (cheaper to heat, easier to clean, you can give it a fresh look by just changing up the furniture layout or wall art slightly etc).

Ultimately though you just have to go with your gut to some extent... if you feel you could put up with not having BBQs with friends for a few years (although it sounds like you could probably still have small dinner parties indoors) in exchange for getting on the ladder (keeping in mind it might be harder to sell without the garden). Good luck, I know there's a lot to weigh up.