Are you happy in your small house?

[EveningSpread]

When I bought my 2 bed terrace it was just for me and the cat. Now DP and our baby live here too. I’m 36, he’s 41, baby is 11mo.

We could afford a bigger house, and I fear when DD is older we’ll want more space. But right now there are so many positives:

• we can pay the mortgage off in 10 years and the bills are cheap
• the location is fab: close to town, parks, the train station, nursery and schools
• house maintenance is relatively cheap
• we can’t accumulate loads of crap cos we don’t have the space
• we love travelling, and we still have enough spare cash to put £500 a month in the holiday fund, which goes a long way cos we travel cheaply
• family gatherings can happen at my mum’s, so we don’t strictly need more space

The cons of our current house are:

• I fear we will outgrow it when DD is 10 or so at the latest
• I worry about not giving DD the best environment we could provide - we could give her a bigger house with more space
• We can’t host Christmas (too small) or have friends/family to stay (no spare room)

DP is up for staying here and moving in future, if we ever have the means to do so and keep our current lifestyle. (He’ll likely inherit some of his family estate at some point, though it’s a complicated family so no guarantees, and obviously there’s no telling when.)

We have a great lifestyle at the moment and zero financial worries, which is no mean feat in this economic climate. I’d hate to feel imprisoned in a bigger house.

But I know people tend to stretch themselves when they are younger, and house prices will only increase. Also, I sometimes feel it’s the wrong choice to live in a small house for 90% of the year so that you can enjoy holidays and travelling for a small percentage of the year.

So, with all that in mind, give me your happy small house stories! I hear loads of people stretching for the bigger house, but not so many who live well within their means.

Are we sensible, or stingy?!

I hate mine OP. It’s so small we had to rehome our dog when baby was born, so devastating. We used to rent a new build and although had less rooms, it felt more spacious as it was open plan. When we moved here we had to get rid of half of our lovely vintage furniture because they were too bulky for our narrow maisonette, sofa also had to be taken apart and now it’s a bit unsteady as a result but it was expensive so not getting a new one. I cannot wait to move. Neighbours have lived on the street with similarat properties for years, even with kids I don’t understand. We are very minimal; declutter regularly, only but what we need second hand. Another thing I hate is once baby is in bed we have to practically stay in our living room because the kitchen is opposite the baby’s room, she can hear everything, front door and stairs is right in the middle so everything can be heard from everywhere. Maybe it’s more the layout that’s more important than the actual size though. As I said I’ve lived small before and liked it when the layout was better.