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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a two bedroom house is big enough if you only have one DC?

107 replies

unlucky83 · 04/11/2013 19:14

Listening to Radio 4 You and Yours today talking about the new government help to buy scheme...and how hard it is to get approved.

(Was a bit distracted - but pretty sure these fact are right)

Heard something that the more I think about it -the less it makes financial sense to me...

They had someone saying they have a 2 bedroom house and have had a baby - their DC's nursery has 'to double as a spare room'...ideally they need a bigger house so DC can have their 'own room' Hmm

  • but can't get approved for the scheme...
(They bought with 100% mortgage, were in neg equity for a while but now could make a 5% deposit from the equity in their house)

So AIBU to think that 2 bedrooms should be enough - if money is tight - and if they can afford to pay a bigger mortgage they would be better off paying more into their current mortgage for a couple of years to increase their equity/reduce their interest (or even a savings account)! rather than borrowing more money and taking on a bigger mortgage/debt for something that (IMO) is not essential?
(Or am I missing something here? Confused)

OP posts:
theywillgrowup · 04/11/2013 19:34

if it's goverment funded then no 2 bed is enough

they've done this with the bedroom tax,so should apply here

if ive misunderstood scrap what ive saidConfused

Justforlaughs · 04/11/2013 19:35

stubborn afraid not, well, ok they were renting it - and as I haven't heard from them for a while their situation might have changed with the "bedroom tax" but at the time they were housed - all rent paid in a 6 bedroom house which would have cost in excess of £400k on the private market.And no, they had a toddler, a child in infant school, a child in juniors school and a teenage girl. Apparently, there were no 5 bedroom houses available.

DustBunnyFarmer · 04/11/2013 19:35

I don't get why you would don the judgey pants on this. We have more bedrooms than we need because a) we can manage the mortgage, b) are lucky to live in a cheaper part of the country where it can be done and c) prioritise having more space - partly to put up far flung rellies - over having a shiny new car, fancy holidays, don't smoke, don't drink much etc. if that's what we want to spend money on, what business is it of yours? Also, without movement in the housing market, people will possibly see the value of their homes go down increasing negative equity, the slump in demand will put homebuilders on a go slow further exacerbating rental costs in the private sector, which hurts people who can't afford to buy etc. I can't get worked up about it personally.

Justforlaughs · 04/11/2013 19:37

bundaberg unless I am much mistaken, the reason it's only on newbuilds is to encourage the building trade to build.

Original poster
unlucky83 · 04/11/2013 19:37

I think the 'ideally' bit was what she said...and the 'so my DC doesn't have to share' (with their clutter?)
She didn't mention struggling with hall space etc - just the bedroom bit...
I know none of my business - but then again complaining that they can't get onto a scheme where the government pays some of your deposit for you Hmm -this is the new one I think - where you put 5% dep down and the government make up the rest ...and you can use it on any house I think ...but people are struggling to pass the credit checks ...
Anyway I thought if anything it was an odd example for Radio 4 to use...

BTW We don't have any family locally - we are 2 adults and 2 DCs (12 and 6) in a 3 bedroom ....
We have had all our family staying and family friends from overseas...the DCs share and the guest has the 'spare room' - a toddler could always go in with the parents for a few nights ...
(up to recently -my parents (in their 70s) now stay in a hotel but because they find it tiring to be around the DCs 24 hrs a day for a week +)

OP posts:
AppleAndBlackberry · 04/11/2013 19:40

We used to own a modern 2-bed and it would have been possible to have a baby in it, but not ideal. We had no hallway, no under stairs cupboard, dining table in the carpeted living room, no downstairs loo, very limited storage. But our neighbours had 2 children and another neighbour had 1. One neighbour used to leave the pushchair in front of the house. We were lucky enough to be able to move before we had DC1 but I don't think it would have stopped us trying for one child. Two would have been very cramped.

elskovs · 04/11/2013 19:40

A 2 bed means a titchy 2 up two down in most cases doesn't it?

Its not the number of bedrooms as much as the amount of space downstairs that would bother me.

I lived in one once and it was too small for just me and my husband, nevermind kids too. Even though we had a spare bedroom there was no space for a table in the kitchen, and no separate dining room. It was literally 2 small rooms downstairs and up. We could never have fitted a dining table and highchair in it.

So yes, I think a 3 bed is minimum for that reason

CrapBag · 04/11/2013 19:40

YANBU.

A spare room is just that, its spare and a luxury, not essential. You don't have to have a whole room to accommodate guests for 2 weeks a year or whatever, either you change it around when they come, or they stay in a B & B.

I also don't think that each child has to have their own room, yes its nice if you can provide it, but if you can't then they share and you make do, its not the end of the world.

I'd like to see them in our house! We are in a 2 bed with 2 DCs, boy and girl so there will become a point where they need their own space. No dining area so tea on laps for me and DH and kids have a little table and chairs set. Rooms are all a decent size but there are no hallways or anything and a tiny tiny garden. But we manage because we have to. We have done shared ownership to get this one and have been saving for a long time so we can upgrade to a 3 bedroom, it won't be an expensive one and will likely be a do-er upper but we won't have to be funded by silly schemes that mean you still have to pay loads of money back, that you probably don't have in the first place otherwise you would be able to save some for a deposit.

Rentahoose · 04/11/2013 19:42

We live in a very small one bedroom house with nursery/cupboard(not big enough for a full size single bed).

Try living in that with two children. It ain't pretty (luckily we are hopefully in the process of moving). What we have done for 2 bedrooms over the last 6 years though.

ouryve · 04/11/2013 19:42

We have 2 kids in a 2 bedroom house. Admittedly, the 2 bedrooms are reasonably big ones. Unlike some newbuilds, this smallish 2 up 2 down is still spacious enough that you can sit and watch TV without being able to kick the TV cabinet.

If people want to stay, there's plenty of hotels and guest houses in the area. We do need separate rooms for the boys, as they don't get on, at all (both have ASD) but if, whenever we move, we find a 3 bed that meets our needs, than that's what we'll buy. We'd not overstretch ourselves for a 4 bed for the sake of a spare bedroom.

Rentahoose · 04/11/2013 19:43

What we would have done for 2 bedrooms I mean

CrapBag · 04/11/2013 19:44

"where you put 5% dep down and the government make up the rest"

I'm fairly sure that it is an interest free loan from the government for 5 years, then you have to pay it back with interest.

Which means people will be unable to afford that I would imagine. That's why we aren't even bothering with it and will have to try ourselves or stay put for a few more years.

RoxanneReidsChafingFishnets · 04/11/2013 19:45

I have a 2 bedroom and its massive. Rooms are huge but toilet and bathrooms are tiny. Living room is massive. Its length of the house. Windows in front and back. I have a table at the back and still room to do a cart wheel. found that out while.drunk

Its too big for me tbh. I'd love a smaller place. Gardens aren't massive but big enough to play in

ouryve · 04/11/2013 19:45

Justforlaughs I very much doubt those people are being given the house. It is not theirs to keep. And unless there's extenuating circumstances, then they'll have 3 extra bedrooms to pay "bedroom tax" for.

SoftSheen · 04/11/2013 19:45

We have one DC in a two bed terrace- it is fine. On the same street, there are plenty of two bed terraces with two and even three child families in them. And this is a pretty affluent area. So yes, YANBU.

AllBoxedUp · 04/11/2013 19:47

I heard this as well and thought it was the best example of someone who really needed help. The only thing the woman mentioned was that they would like to move so their son would have his own bedroom and they could have a dedicated spare room. I don't think the OP is judging people who can afford to buy a house with a spare room - just questioning whether this couple were really hard done by.
I'm guessing here but I think the problem was they were not passing the affordability checks for the banks which offer the Help to Buy mortgages. They had a 10% mortgage offer with another bank (which confused me as they only had a 5% deposit) but couldn't get approved for the schemes with help. I think most of the banks offering the scheme are High Street banks and they normally look at outgoings and incomings rather than some Building Societies which only go on income multiples.
We are going to loose our spare room soon when DC2 arrives and it will make things a bit more difficult but we will just have to manage with a sofa bed in the living room or turf DS1 out of his room. If I could afford it I would definitely have a spare room but it's not to be at the moment.

soverylucky · 04/11/2013 19:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
unlucky83 · 04/11/2013 19:49

Actually thinking back my DM grew up in a terrace (North West) - it originally was a 2 up, 2 down with a lean to kitchen (no room for a table!)
My GF split one of the bedrooms into two for my DM and her DB - but then they had to go back to sharing in their teens as one of the bedrooms was made into a bathroom...

OP posts:
AllBoxedUp · 04/11/2013 19:50

The thing I will miss more in losing our spare room is somewhere to dry our washing - how do other people manage? Are we just going to have to buy a washer/dryer?

willowstar · 04/11/2013 19:50

I would say it depends a lot on what spare room is used for. None of my family live in the uk. When they visit it is for a couple of weeks at a time, a couple of times a yr. they are not well enough off to afford to pay for accommodation and are too old to sleep on couches, chairs, floors etc..

So a spare room is important to us.

DoctorRobert · 04/11/2013 19:50

depends on the size of the house surely. we only have 1 dc and are in a 3 bed. however, it's a very small house. without our little box room for storage we would struggle.

AllBoxedUp · 04/11/2013 19:51

sovery I think the point is the woman on the radio obviously couldn't afford a 3 bed house as she a. needed help from the scheme and b. couldn't get approved for a mortgage on it.

LtEveDallas · 04/11/2013 19:54

We are a family of 3 about to buy a house. We haven't looked at anything less than a 3 bed, and ideally 4.

We will be living over 200 miles from either families. We want a spare double room for parents to visit - and if possible want to be able to make that room on the ground floor, so need a dining room.

We need a double, and I want DD to have a double for all her 'stuff' which will only get worse as she grows!

2 beds will be 2 doubles but won't have a dining room, and none of us will sleep on a blow-up.

3 beds will almost certainly be 2 doubles and a single - doable but not perfect. Will hopefully have a dining room.

4 beds will almost certainly be 3 double one single, if not will have 2 singles we could bash into one. Will almost def have a dining room.

Thankfully we will be able to do this without government help, but I can understand why someone would want a 'spare'

AllBoxedUp · 04/11/2013 19:54

I'm being a bit hypocritical though as we've just moved house and there was only about one building society we could go with as we failed the affordability checks with the high Street banks. We extended our term and went for a 5 year fix though which meant our mortgage payments barely increased. I don't think we would have got a mortgage on Help to Buy and we moved so we would have room for DC2. If the lady on the radio was planning the same thing I doubt she would have felt comfortable announcing her family plans on live radio.....

marmaladeandguitars · 04/11/2013 19:57

What always amazes me about 2 up 2 downs around here, is the size of the families that used to live in them.

Our house is an ex fisherman's cottage- it has a lovely long garden, the rooms are fairly decent, and even without the extension, it would be an OK size.

However the house I was briefly in a few years ago, in the same village, was absolutely minuscule- it didn't even have a yard and we could barely fit an IKEA toddler bed into DD's room. The living room was just big enough for a small sofa and a TV- the bathroom was a sort of converted lean-to.

Imagine my surprise when, on expressing my relief at moving to MIL, she told me a family with 8 children had lived there when she was a girl.

I can't even imagine it

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