Is it better to live in a big house?

[rosiesunflower]

We've sold our small house and ended up renting a big house. We'll big to us anyway.
I feel so much more relaxed and calm. I have space for the first time. I get all the extra cleaning and things like that but overall the space is outweighing anything else.

We're now looking to buy again and everything has changed about what we thought we wanted in our next home. I feel like I can never go back to a small house again. Has anyone gone from a smaller house to a bigger one and regretted it? I'm talking quite a large house ie 4000 sq ft plus. Our house we sold was 1000sq ft! I suppose it would be very long term purchase. We only have one primary aged dc.

Yes we are already renting a 4000 sq ft house so know all about the energy bills. But it's still worth it. We wear more clothes and try to reduce the amount we turn the heating one unless we have guests then we turn it on more, we were terrible in the small house and had it on 24/7 so it's not sooo bad. Rental has terrible insulation too.

We are so happy in the space. Interesting to hear others opinions sounds like it makes sense to try to keep the space!

I live in a 4 bed house, just me and ds. It wasn't planned that way.

It's good in terms of hosting family, having ds' friends to stay, it's calm and sane. We don't tread on each other's toes.And a good financial investment.

Downside is cleaning and bills.. I'll downsize when's ds leaves school.

@strawberrybarn yes the sizes are from the energy epc certification unless they're not accurate?

Mine's 2200sq ft.

4,000 is perfect. We’ve been in 3000 for the last 9 yrs and are bursting at the seams. We looked at 4000 back then and thought they were too big as we’d moved from an apartment. Can’t afford to move now though.

one thing to think about is how the space is allocated and the overall layout. Our living area is quite tight so we feel on top of each other, and it would be nice to have a little nook I can escape too away from everyone but it’s just not there.

How big is too big? Well that is subjective. I think my house is too big. DH thinks it is not big enough. He hordes far more crap than me, and also doesn't get involved in the housework (mutual decision before anyone piles on. He works stupid hours and has an earning capacity of approx 100 times mine. Financially it is better for us if he keeps away from domestic chores).

There is a sweet spot with housing above which the benefit of increased space is outweighed by the costs of owning it e.g heating, maintenance, security, cleaning etc. It is different for everyone. A billionaire isn't going to be bothered by the running costs of a 10,000sqft mansion set in 300 acres. The rest of us have to make do with much more modest aspirations!

I miss my London flat, I could clean it in 45 mins. Endless rooms now. More space = more cleaning and potential for clutter.

We live in a big house, and it’s on a big plot. There’s lots of storage space so it’s tidy. But I can tell you this… every single person who comes up to the house to quote for work, IMMEDIATELY starts adding zeros (even if the job is a small job isolated to one room).

We have an Alexa in every room in the house so I can call the children for dinner or just locate them in general (sorry I know that sounds majorly knobby, but it’s easier than going round room by room).

I do love it though.

Ours is four bed and 2300 sq ft. 4000 is massive, we’d get lost in it!

I'd love to live in a tiny house.

Nope. We are down sizing. Less heat price and less processions. Feels safer too all being close.

Interesting replies from people. I've lived in a 750 sq ft flat, and in a 6000 sq ft farm house. Our current set up is my favourite. 2,300 sq ft 4 bed with v decent size garden. Plenty of room inside and outside, enough space for some privacy, but can clean it all comfortably in a day and not overly expensive to run (although ask me again come this winter 😬) 4000 sq ft would feel too big for me now but I have two children. Can imagine 3+ kids I'd want a bit more space.

We lived in two bed flats for years. Finally managed to buy a house - four bed terrace - and couldn’t afford any furniture 🤣. Over the years we bought carefully to furnish and decorate, and extended into the loft, so now in a lovely five bed / three bath with two teenagers so everyone has their own space.

It’s not too cluttered as we stay on top of that but the cleaning is never ending so ended up outsourcing!

i do love the space and am grateful for it everyday.

Our second hosue is I think slightly smaller - especially downstairs but better laid out so 4 instead of three bedrooms smaller but extra seperate bedroom plus more rooms downstairs so easier to heat.

Though main priorties were price, commutes, school catchments - then really wants - like second toilet and 4 bedrooms but having "enough" space was a consideration.

Ours is under 1600 and we have 4kids and work from home. It feels absolutely fine?

I honestly think the bigger the better (assuming well insulated so the heating bills aren't too high). We moved to a much bigger house and although I don't have clutter and I always try to put everything away it's so much easier in a bigger house. No disadvantages that I can find with bigger tbh!

I grew up in the States in a large house. I really liked it as everyone had their own space, but I wasn't doing the cleaning or paying the AC bills.

My mum currently lives in an 8000 sq ft house ( in the US) with just her DH. They do actually use all that space. They have a room for every activity, a guest house, workshop, 4 car garage. But when I visit, I just think look at all this stuff. They're not hoarders but every room has furniture, decorations, paintings, rugs, TV. They have a lot of space so subsequently have a lot of possessions. I've lived in the UK in a 1800 sq ft house for 20 years and now I can only see my mum's house as excessive and unnecessary. I think you can have too much house.

@luxsolaris yes we aren't looking for 300 acres but 4000sq ft is very nice and we'd consider bigger. Perhaps it depends on how annoying one's spouse is when they're wfh too? 🤣

@Luckystar1 that is a very good point. We don't pay for works atm as we are renting so it's something I hadn't really properly thought about.

Space is the secret of happy families. When we moved to Australia and our compact 3/4 bed semi with small garden translated to a massive five bed detached with huge garden and pool life with three kids became a lot less stressful. Unfortunately if you moved to Sydney today you would probably be downsizing.

No desire to live in a large house, too much cleaning. Hate having a four bed for this reason! That's bad enough. Cleaning constantly.

Wow - some of the square feet mentioned in this thread! Our house is under 1000sq ft. 1 tiny bathroom, 1 through lounge with sofa separating lounge from dining table.

JMAngel1
I understand your pain. I am middle aged and expected to be living far more comfortably at this stage in life. I am referring to downstairs WC, two reception rooms, large bedrooms- all three are small, only one can fit a double bed and only just! Oh and a garden that you cannot see the end of as opposed to being overlooked from all angles.

I cannot help but feel I have failed in life.

@Flatandhappy huge garden and pool sounds a plus! Not sure I'd get much use out of a pool in U.K. though.

@Chakraleaf have you lived in a bigger house? I thought I was fine in our 1000 sq ft house, we are very strict with clutter and throwing stuff out but now I don't feel like I could ever go back to a smaller space because I've now experience this bigger place. I absolutely love having this space. It would mean for us to move areas completely though but we have no close family anyway so I don't think it would be too difficult. It wasn't our intention to buy a bigger house but now I really want one, it's useful to hear any downsides though because I haven't had any yet.

There is probably a point of diminishing returns. We have 2100 square feet plus cellars of another 800 or so and then outbuildings for two of us. We do plan to convert the loft which will add another 1200 but as it is we only seem to use two thirds of the house.

Who do you live with? Mines just over 1000 square feet - it's me and 2 DC. I considered moving but they will be off to uni soon enough and if anything, 3 large double bedrooms seems too much for just me.

I'm in a 1000sq ft terrace and even with just two of us, no kids, lots of the rooms do feel cluttered, storage feels inadequate. However we're in London and I think the benefits of that, including not needing to have a car because public transport is so good, outweigh the extra space we could get if we moved out. Might change if we have kids when I imagine we'd need to drive a bit anyway!