To think this is tiny

[Cornishandproud]

How big is your house?

I've just been offered a 2 bed house to rent, the lounge is approx 12 x 8, open plan to diner, 8 x 8 and the kitchen is 7x8, no seperate hall, the stairs are in the lounge, there's also a large fireplace taking up a chunk of the living room. Is this really tiny for a 2 bed house?

Also, how old are your children? And will you qualify for a three-bed later on (i.e. do you have a boy and a girl?)

It sounds very small, but not too small to work.

No, not part of Trelawnys army :) no idea yet on bedroom size and I've 2 boys. Going to try measuring the room sizes in current flat and see how it compares. Was given a homeless duty last October and for most listed properties I was top of the list so I've no doubt if I can decline then another house would come up pretty quickly. Will have to check my offer letter. Really like this property for its heating though, log burner and solar panels :) I do know I'm lucky to get social housing and not have to rely on the private market.

You measurements aren't very helpful. 12x8 what?

There's five of us here in a two-bed flat, so don't be coming to me for sympathy .

It might be a small house, but if it's in good nick you could do a lot worse I'm sure.

I'm confused. Metres or feet? Metres, it's large, why would you asking?, feet, it's tiny.

I was in a 2-bed house of that size until last winter. Now I'm in a HA flat that's half the size! It's just me & the cat, but most of my neighbours at the old house have children. It's fine.

A lot of people have never lived in a bigger home. Sure, we'd all like cavernous homes but in reality, a bigger house just makes you accumulate more stuff. And smaller homes are cheaper to heat :)

We live in a 3 bedroom house; it's about 2000 sq ft. It's not huge, actually a bit cramped for 5 people, but it's fine. If we had anticipated thing 3, we would have bought a little bit bigger.

Does it have much storage we lived in a two bed flat with no storage with two children it wasent easy we are now but n a two bed council house it was built iin the 60,s though and has loads of storage and a decent size garden .

It sounds like a normal sized two bed to me! Most two beds are small but if you like the location then go for it!

What's the actually space? Our flat is 600sq ft and is fine for the 4 of us still

Thanks all. Measurements are in feet and to go by outside dimensions it would be about 300 sq ft.

It's bigger than my 2 bed house (me, DH, DS and cat).

We have same size sitting room and kitchen, but no diner. Stairs in kitchen.

300 sq ft can't be right, our one bed flat is almost 600 sq ft.

Anything under 500 sq ft is the 'tiny home movement'. 300sq ft is a converted shed on wheels

Its not 300sq ft, youve got that very wrong.

As for 2000sq ft being too cramped for five people, I hope youve got that wrong too. 2000 sqft would be an enormous three bed, Ive seen fived bed three reception rooms houses that are that size.

Does it actually matter what the numerical dimensions are anyway?

You've looked through the window- can you fit a sofa, a telly and a couple of bookcases in there? Yes? Then it isn't too small. Embrace the minimalist lifestyle.

Top tip would be to give the bigger bedroom to the kids so they've got somewhere to play.

I don't think 12x8 is too bad when there is a separate/semi separate dining space. How open plan is it? 8ft is a bit narrow but it's workable, and 8x8 is adequate for a table for 4.

We used to have a livingroom which was 10ft square, with steps up to a dining area which (because of the steps) was probably about 7ft square. And the kitchen was, I think, just over 6ft square. It was fine, honestly. We had 2 sofas, a big TV unit, coffee table, dining table etc. And the room was awkward because (in addition to the steps) it had a ridiculously big fireplace in it.

It sounds like a Victorian terrace that I rented once, except mine was 11 feet wide not 8.

From the measurements I would say that is is VERY NARROW.

You'll definitely need to check out the dimensions of the bedrooms - the house I lived in the second bedroom was (because of chimney breast) not big enough to fit a double bed. So if 2 children have the bigger bedroom, you wouldn't have been able to have a grownup bed.

This one may have been converted more sensibly though.

Is it shaped like this only much narrower? (look at the floorplan)

Can you post the floor plan and total sq foot?

It's very small. Our current flat is around 600 sqft and we are bursting at the seams (DH collects trains, Lego, builds loads of things so that doesn't help) and can't wait to get into our much larger house. Our baby is coming in December and I will cry if I can't get into the new house before then!

That said, average British homes are small compared to our European cousins, and much smaller than US and Australia so people are used to it. what are your choices with regards to this house?

This is very similar to our house (also H A) except we dont have downstairs loo. Sitting room and dining room slightly bigger but kitchen is pretty big. We find this big for a family of 5, though the bedrooms are just the nice sizes.

Sounds ok to me as you have a dining room as well.

It's fine - less to clean!

That's the size of a standard small Victorian terrace around here -- we lived in one that was 11 feet wide. As long as yr DCs are happy sharing, you don't work from home, and you don't have much stuff you'll be fine. In my experience though small spaces are much harder to keep tidy because storage is a problem. You'll need very clever storage solutions and small furniture.