To think that some people live in too big houses?

[URSick]

Lots of people live in (in my opinion) already big houses yet they want to move into even bigger ones.
I see so many families where all the children have their own bedrooms, bathrooms, big bedroom for the parents, guest room, study, living room, and yet they never seem to be satisfied and want to move into a bigger house. They all want playroom for the children. What's the point, when they could easily play in their bedrooms or the living room? There are houses where everybody has their own level, plus bathrooms on the landings, more toilets than family members, and yet they want Buckingham palace. It's good to have enough space and not be in each other's pockets but am I the only one who thinks these people are greedy and unreasonable? You don't need to live in a mansion to be a happy family.
Not to mention those houses where entire rooms are never used, lots of space is taken up by massive stairs and there are parts of the house that are just walkways.
What's your take on it?

*that's too small, ignore the not - baby brain!

Big "family" type houses don't bother me, but what I find fascinating are the footballer mansion type of house.

When you look at the floor plans, there is literally a separate room for everything, and I always wonder how often they actually get used. There's a gorgeous "if I won the lottery" house for sale near us, but even if I could afford it, it just seems pointless to have so many rooms empty for a large part of the day. We've got a "big" house, compared to what I grew up in, in that we've got three bedrooms and three bathrooms, but the individual rooms are all quite small. I'd actually like one more room for my sewing stuff but any more than that would be wasted. If I had a bigger house, I'd actually like bigger rooms rather than more rooms.

WhiteRose I have a walled garden and espaliered appletrees

HOWEVER the cottage is a money pit and I do sometimes LONG for non-squint walls and stairs that don't creak

YABU. If people can afford a big house - even if it is bigger than they technically need - why shouldn't they choose to spend their money on one if that's what they fancy.

I would love to move to a bigger house and we are looking out for the right property. We don't particularly need more space, it would be a luxury, but as long as we are still living within our means and paying our own way why shouldn't we.

My husband and I both work in property and have a passion for all things house. It's a hobby for us. Some people prefer to have brand new cars, whereas I am happy to drive my knocked-about 13 year old Golf because I couldn't care less and would rather have money to invest in a new property, renovations, furniture etc.

My parents have a big farmhouse and live in 3 rooms of it. They could easily downsize to somewhere less than half the size but they've worked hard their whole loves to be able to afford a place like that and they love it. Equally, my PIL are in a similar situation and are looking to downsize because they've decided it's more hassle than it's worth to keep up with a big house that they don't need. I think it's known as horses for courses.

What on earth does it matter what house other people live in? We are very fortunate to live in a country that still allows people to (largely) spend their money how they wish. Be happy about this. Not everyone does.

I want a bigger house. I want a sewing room. And a bigger room for DS2. And an en-suite. Our house is fine, but I want more. Not too much more. I don't like cleaning :)

The only time it annoys me is on grand designs when they are waxing lyrical about how eco friendly their fucking huge mansion with low heating bills is and I think, fuck off, you've just planted a mother tonne of concrete up a mountain so that the two of you can swan about posing. High density housing is where it's at if you actually give a shit.

Otherwise, I don't begrudge anyone a playroom.

Sorry you do seem like you have sour grapes, if they want the space to bounce around, who are you to say how they spend their money.

We live in a big enough just about for us house, which needs more room as people work from home and we have a piano which needs to be in a separate room from the TV. But we'd like something a "bit bigger" but mainly because I can't at present see our children leaving home permanently and we'd like room to be flexible for them.

Well, having more space than absolutely necessary is nice. We have 'spare' rooms in the sense that everyone has a bedroom plus there's a games room, plus a study. Separate dining room and a breakfast room. So, yes, I suppose we have more space than necessary. But it means we can have people to stay easily, and everyone can potter off to their own bit of the house and be as noisy/messy/peaceful as they want without getting under each other's feet. It feels like a nice bit of everyday luxury, and it's worth it to us. Having said all that, I did see houses when we were last looking that we could afford, but were too big - we'd have had rooms and possibly even floors that we barely used, but would still need cleaning, decorating, heating, furnishing, etc - and we didn't buy on those grounds, nice as those houses were.

So you are being neither reasonable, nor unreasonable really.

Well you don't have to see the point it's not you living in the property.

I wanted a play room for my children as their room is for them to sleep and have quiet time, I could also contain the mess in one room rather than have 2 messy rooms and I could control the messy play better.

It's like saying I don't see the point in a dinning room or dinning table as they can eat their meals on the sofa.

YABU.

Each to their own. However I don't like excessive wasted space and excess materialistic possessions for environmental reasons. My kids all have their own rooms (DS ASD). Rooms and house are compact. We recycle lots, often buy second hand and grow our own veg. I like the simple life!

YABVU - what the fuck business is it of yours what people do with their money? we moved out from London to the countryside and the main reason was space. Playroom, utility room and a spare bedroom. Rooms I could shut the doors on the mess! And I fucking love it.

I love my big house - it makes me very happy and I know it's a sound investment for my family's future - i see no negatives.

We are a busy family with three dc who are all getting older so need their own space/rooms too.

We need a separate dining room as I cannot bear people sitting mindlessly in front of the tv with their dinner on their laps. We need a Conservatory because we get so little good weather in the UK that you can pretend it's summer as soon as the sun comes out in there. We need about fifty loos because there's always someone needing it. We used to have a playroom but now the dc are older it stopped being used so is now my very own cosy hideaway. It has comfy chairs, my bookcase, loads of cushions, throws and hanging tat and best of all - no tv. So the boys (and DH) have no desire to be in there and I am left alone to lie back, read a book and get a little sozzled .

Honestly op I need that space for my sanity

If the people who can afford mansions buy them, it leaves the normal family sized homes for people who can't afford mansions.

This. Also the bigger the house the bigger the stamp duty bill so it contributes more to the taxes pot as well.

I had to sort, empty and sell my parents' house last year. It took me 10 months and was a nightmare. 5 lorry loads left the house, of which only one was stuff my sister and I kept for ourselves. There was far too much stuff, mostly untouched and unused. It wasn't untidy - just superfluous!

"Yes CoolJazz it is consumerism and never having enough. But maybe I am just a simple soul who is easily satisfied."

Ohhh @URSick, it must be wonderful to be such a saint. If you ignore all the judgementalism, of course.

Re: kids having their own rooms. Whilst this is not essential, let me tell you that it makes things a lot easier, especially when they are teenagers, with lots of homework and revision to do. And when there is friction between siblings, it is very useful if you aren't trying to referee between them at bedtime, because they aren't continuing the fight in their shared bedroom, but have each got somewhere they can get away from their sibling in.

Extra bathrooms - also very handy especially in the teenage years, when personal grooming becomes much more important to them. Getting a bunch of teenagers up and out of the house for school is a lot easier if they aren't fighting over who has the bathroom next, and whether someone has been in the shower, like forever.

A playroom is great when they are little - if you are really tired, in the evening, you can shut the door on it, and go into a tidy, grown up front room - do not underestimate the benefits of not having to do a load of tidying up before you can relax in a relatively toy free space. And when they are older, it is great for them to have their own den/sitting room - when their bedtime gets later (9-10pm), it cuts out a lot of the discussions about who gets to use the TV, and what gets watched - they can be in their den, with their x-box or whatever, or watching teen rubbish on the TV, whilst the parents can watch what they want to, in their sitting room.

And I am sorry - you may insist that you are not jealous, but you sound utterly jealous, based on what you have said here.

We should have a room tax, or a playroom tax

It's called council tax, you already pay it.

Come back now op and do some work on your own thread😡👎😾🤔

Shoot me now - I have 4 bedrooms for just me! (Well, me, the dog & the cats - but the pooch sleeps with me & often a cat does too)
I'm off to flog myself & find a hairshirt to wear.
(Haven't yet worked out how to use all 3 toilets in one go)

Yes there is council tax but it provides no disincentive to over invest in property
Neither does it redistribute housing resources

You are being unreasonable. We have a modest 3 bed semi with 2 bathrooms, a downstairs loo and garage and garden. We have a ds and dc2 is currently on their way. I hate having toys in my living room and would love a play room. Once we're done with sky high nursery fees we will buy our forever home which will hopefully be 4 bed and 3 bath. A clutter free home and some adult space is necessary for my sanity!