My Life in Houses

[DebbieTheCat]

Inspired by the book I'm currently reading of the same title (by Margaret Forster).

From childhood I've lived in

• Detached 4 bed
• Uni halls of residence (student)
• Mid terrace off a dual carriageway (student)
• Maisonette (student)
• Flat above a shop (student)
• 1 bed Ground floor flat (first rung on property ladder!)
• 2 bed top floor flat
• 3 bed Link terrace (only the upstairs was attached the flat next door)
• 3 bed detached
• 5 bed detached

I'm amazed there's such a variety, never really thought about it before.
My favourite (obviously apart from current home) was the one bed flat, because it was the first time I had somewhere that was properly "mine" and I felt like an official grown up 😂

What's your life in houses?

two bed flat
two bed terraced house
two bed terraced house house
3 bed semi house
5 bed detached house
4 bed semi house
1 bed flat
2 bed flat
uni accommodation
studio
1 bed flat
2 bed flat
1 bed flat
1 bed flat
2 bed flat (first I owned!)
2 bed flat
2 bed terraced house
7 bed detached farmhouse
3 bed detached house
3 bed detached house
2 bed semi house
6 bed detached farmhouse
And quite a bit of sofa surfing in between some of the above.

In case you haven't gathered, I've moved about a fair bit! The above span multiple locations across three continents.

Birth country #1 - can't remember
BC #2 - can't remember
Next country #1 - can't remember
NC #2 - large wooden bungalow, shared bedroom with gecko

[Scotland]
2+1+2 in GP's 1-bed tenement flat with outdoor bathroom
2 bed council masionette
3 bed house

room in large old interlinked houses (uni)
room in tenement flat sublet (summers)

room in flat (overseas)
2 bed houseboat share (overseas)

sublet boxroom
half attic boxroom in flatshare of first love

[England]
guest in spawling family home
lodger 3 storey house
lodger 2 bed house
attic flat
lodger in houseshare
friends floors/sofas/guestrooms
room in co-op flatshare
converted horsebox
self-built bender/cabin/yurt
converted works van

[Scotland]
room in old mansion
half static caravan
whole of wooden caravan
tiny 1 bed cottage
homeless
1 bed flat (shitty rental)

All interspersed with various short lets in other countries which I gave up on listing after the first.

Some of you have enviably stable and secure and always-improving living arrangements! I think mine are actually going backwards.

3 bed semi
3 bed semi dormer bungalow
3 bed semi
4 bed semi
3 bed det bungalow
2 bed flat
3 bed flat
3 bed semi
4 bed detached
3 bed semi
3 bed detached bungalow
3 bed semi
3 bed det
3 bed semi
3 bed semi
4 bed semi
3 bed bungalow
4 bed det dormer bungalow
2 bed semi bungalow

Military back ground. Divorce means down scaling.

2 bed semi
5 bed detached
3 bed detached
3 bed semi
5 bed terrace (house share)
2 bed terrace (my first house purchase!)
4 bed semi

Second and last were the biggest ones. My two bed terrace could fit inside my current house!

3 bed semi with parents
3 bed detached with parents
8 bed mansion (working as an au pair)
Uni halls
4 bed terrace (Uni shared house)
Hospital staff flat
uni halls
shared flat renting
shared house (terrace) renting
shared flat renting
studio flat renting
1 bed flat (first purchase!)
3 bed semi (with new DH)
4 bed detached (with in laws between moves)
4 bed semi
I’m amazed I’ve lived in so many places!

I thought I'd lived in a lot of places until I read this thread!
Birth to five - a flat above a factory in India, where I was born because my dad was sent out there to be works manager of said factory.
Rented terrace house for six months after my parents returned to the UK.
5-19 Three bedroom terraced house
19-21 Uni halls of residence
21-22: three months in a vicar's attic, six months in a ground floor flat
22-23 rented one bedroom first floor flat
23-24: five months in a rented one-bedroom flat with a bathroom we shared with another flat, three months in a rented three bedroom semi
24-25 rented one bedroom flat on the 8th floor of a block
25-37 first purchase - three bedroom semi in a fairly run-down area
37-43 four bedroom semi in a nicer area
43-52 four bedroom detached in a nice area
My husband died when I was 50 and I remarried and moved to the USA when I was 52, since when:
52-55 small three bedroom detached in the city
55-69 large four bedroom detached with an acre and a half land in the country
69-now four bedroom detached in the city.

4 bed 1970s detached.
2 bed 60s bungalow.
2 bed mobile home.
1 bed 1980s maisonette.
2 bed 1980s semi.
3 bed 1980s linked detached.
Room in uni halls.
4 bed 1930s terrace (shared student house)
Converted garage (shared) that had a combined kitchen/bathroom which would never have passed UK building codes. We used another bathroom in the next building and kept the kitchen just for cooking.
Bedsit.
4 bed Georgian terrace (shared).
2 bed 1900 terrace (first owned house).
4 bed 1920s semi.
4 bed Edwardian detached (rented).
4 bed 1960s detached (rented).
4 bed 1930s semi (back to owning).

Edwardian detached, no CH, open fires, no bathroom (but had inside loo and the bathroom was added later) big garden
Flatshare in creepy large converted Victorian terraced house, one gas fire, shared bathroom
Tiny two-bed new build semi with CH, garage, tiny garden (first home with DH who likes a garage)
1970s three-bed semi, CH, driveway but no garage, small garden
17th century detached, three-bed crumbling money pit cottage, no CH, open fires, no garage, small garden
1930s three-bed semi doer-upper, no CH, two gas fires, garage, tiny garden
1960s three-bed semi, all mod cons, no work needed (yay) with garage, large garden
1950s three-bed detached doer-upper with open fire, storage heaters (to be replaced with air source heating) garage, huge garden

2 bed semi
3 bed semi
Student halls
Student flat
2 bed terrace
2 bed terrace
3 bed detached
4 bed detached
4 bed detached
3 bed detached

It's an interesting question as I can chart my family's fortunes in where we lived at the time. My parents divorced when I was 5, and my mum couldn't really afford to keep the house, although she tried to hold on as long as she could. As very young parents we were able to buy but by the time our kids were school age we were desperate to get out of a declining area, so sold up and rented in better area. We eventually bought again and are about to move up in terms of space and area, even though our kids are almost grown

In childhood, family of 4
2 bed terrace (bad area)
3 bed terrace (nice area)

In childhood, single parent family, fortunes turned
2 bed maisonette (owned, bad area)
1 bed terrace (rented, bad area)
2 bed maisonette (owned, nice area, fortunes turned again)

Student
8 bed back to back house

Adulthood
3 bed terrace (owned, bad area)
3 bed semi (rented, nice area)
3 bed semi (rented)
3 bed semi (owned)
Soon to be 5 bed detached

1970s 4 bed new build (parents)
Various student shares
Various working flat shares
3 bed Victorian terrace ( first buy aged 24)
Another 3 bed Victorian
4 bed 1920s semi
4 bed rural detached ( mortgage paid)

I'm absolutely lucky to be of my generation. My kids pay a fortune to rent and will only be able to buy with our help.

3 bed semi birth - 3 parents
4 bed detached 3 to 9 parents
5 bed detached 9 to 18 parents
8 bed detached 18 to 21 parents
4 bed detached 21 to 24 parents
3 bed end terrace 1st I bought 26 to 28
3 bed semi 2nd bought 28 - 34
4 bed detached 34 - now

The house I lived in from 9 to 18 I adored and still think of it many years later

4 bed farmhouse 0-4y with parents
7 bed barn conversion 4-17y with parents (latterly only one parent!)
2 bed static caravan 17-20y with boyfriend at the time
(back to the barn conversion for a while) 20-21y
3 bed farm cottage 21-now 31y with my now-husband

3 bed terrace
3 bed terrace
now in a 4 bed detached cottage with land, sheep and an ex-caged chicken who loves cuddles.

ive landed on my feet❤️

This is interesting, and made me realise how many places I've lived!

Birth and childhood:

2 up 2 down terrace.
Three bed semi detached with front and back gardens.
Victorian terrace.
Four bedroom cottage.

20s:

Basement flat in a Victorian townhouse.
Attic flat in a Victorian townhouse.
Small ex-mining house rented to post-doc students.
Studio flat.
Two bedroom semi.
5 bedroom detached cottage that we renovated; stables, land, etc. Mortgage free as we own it outright; everything previous was rented.

30s:
Still in the cottage.
Also split time in Norwegian converted cottage (5 bed), detached, half wooden half brick, land, etc. Inherited by DH.

Childhood:

Terraced house
3bed semi
3 bed semi
4 bed detached
3 bed bungalow

Uni and young adult:

Shared university flat
Shared house
Shared flat in France for year abroad
Shared house
Shared house
Back home to parents' 3 bed bungalow
Shared flat in Brussels
Shared flat in Brussels (briefly, with a boyfriend)
Shared flat in Brussels
Own flat in Brussels
Back to parents' 3 bed bungalow when I moved back to the uk

Adult:

Shared flat in London
Bought first property - 2 bed flat in London
Bought 3 bed semi in London
Bought 6 bed detached house in the outer suburbs with husband
Current house - 4 bed detached with some land

That's quite a list! I hadn't realised there had been so many places.

Oh wow this is such a great thread - it's really got me thinking! I remember the pain a few years ago of having to provide a whole lot of addresses for a DBS check and having the devil's own job with dates and postcodes!

1 bed bungalow attached to a farmhouse 2 years
4 bed semi 16 years
room in uni halls 1 year
4 bed terrace student house share 1 year
2 bed annex house share 6 months South Africa
2 bed flat (top floor of a converted house) 6 months South Africa
3 bed end of terrace student house share 1 year
3 bed semi detached, friend's spare room 6 months
bedsit in converted house 6 months
5 bed semi detached house share 6 months
2 bed semi detached house share 2 years
2 bed semi detached cottage 2 years (first mortgage!)
Flat in converted village shop, 3 beds, volunteership accommodation. 6 months
4 bed terrace student house share 1 year
2 bed terrace, boyfriend's house less than 6 weeks - knobber!
1 bed university staff flat in student halls 1 year
2 bed end of terrace cottage, rental, 1 year
3 bed semi detached newbuild less than a year
3 bed detached bungalow (second mortgage) 10 years
5 bed detached bungalow (third mortgage) - hopefully the forever home unless we decide to downsize when the kids are off our hands.

LOVED this book