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?

What an absolutely disgusting show of materialistic greed and complacency. The luxury of the rich comes before the needs of both our own people in terms of housing, and the entire world in terms of environmentalism. Britain was a country worth fighting for, once.

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing separate entrances and corridors for those cleaners and gardeners.

meh - all my kids have their own room and we have a study and a playroom - it's nice to have space - especially with older kids

If I spend 20 years paying up the mortgage of my house, there's no way I want to be forced to move out when I reach retirement, how ridiculous is that. I might want to downsize, I might not, but it's up to me. Having enough space to have a lodger or air BnB guests is also an option.

If people can afford mansions, good for them, as long as it's their own private money.

I wish I could afford 5 or 6 more rooms, I am not begrudging anyone who can. Otherwise, what's next? Someone will decide my garden is too big and will build a block of flats in it?

I won't be rattling around in my house. I've already designated all the rooms for use when the DCs leave. Study each for DH and I, sewing room for me. Lovely. We've worked fucking hard for it for years.

I agree with the OP.
There are at least 2 factors at play and they both contribute to the housing crisis.
•British sneeriness about flats- the reaction from the older generation when we had kids in a flat was akin to if we'd announced we were going to leave them in a hillside for wolves.
•the fact that houses are good investments. I'd love to move back into our original flat- it was in an incredibly posh and lovely area easy to maintain, no need for a car and spitting distance from 3 tubes; perfect for us now. But there's no way we could invest the money from the sale of our house and not be
£££ poorer. So we rattle around in it.

When i win the lottery i am going to buy a massive house!

I wasn't being sarcy Mulberry, I was hoping it was like a whole secret underground house. I didn't realise that most cellars have a different floor size to above.

My in-laws are like this. Just the two of them in their 70's in a large house with an acre or so of land, they are now upsizing to something bigger, spending £1m and all the stamp duty to go with it. Yes it's their money, they can do what they like with it but it seems like a crazy thing to do when neither of them are in good health

Meh. We have a 5 bed (one gets used as a playroom cum spare bedroom), 4 bath/shower room, 2 sitting room and a study with large kitchen diner type house. It even has a double garage to store stuff in too, and about 1/3 acre of garden with a stream. And there's only 4 of us and a couple of pets living here.

I don't give too many fucks what a random stranger on the internet thinks about us all having our own space. My job is home based so I like having a study I can shut the door on. I don't always want to watch the same thing on TV as my kids/husband, so like having 2 sitting rooms. We entertain a lot, so like having a large kitchen and enough rooms for friends and their kids to stay over. We like having a large garden to play football, run around in, grow veg etc.

I actually feel the reverse is true. We are lucky (well enough paid) to be able to afford the house and space we want. I am far more concerned that our society is so unequal that most of the population are crammed into rabbit hutches with postage stamp gardens, or flats with no outside space etc.

Our house is quite large (compared to people I know) with 4 bedrooms (master, kids, guest room and study), 2 bathrooms, lounge, playroom, kitchen diner, utility room. We are a family of 4 but we often have friends or family to stay so it quickly fills up. The dc are 3 and 5 and share a room, but as they get older they can have their own rooms. Our bedroom is on a different floor, and it's large with en suite. We like having a lot of space. Having a playroom is ace. We are growing into the house and I think would struggle moving somewhere smaller. However, it costs more to maintain and takes longer to clean than a smaller property, so there are downsides too. Actually when I see truly massive houses, I hope they have a cleaner (they always do!).

Our area is quite cheap hence we can afford a large house. But we are paying for it so I don't see it as anyone's business.

We are lucky (well enough paid) to be able to afford the house and space we want. I am far more concerned that our society is so unequal that most of the population are crammed into rabbit hutches with postage stamp gardens, or flats with no outside space etc.

Great. Concern for the normal person noted. And can you not see that inequality means the rich are too rich not just the poor are too poor? Unless you're planning an imperial rampage there is only so much land to go round, so if you are taking up more than your fair share of space it means you are taking it from someone else.

Ummm to whoever up thread said that wood was not a sustainable resource. How is it not?? Trees re-grow

And can you not see that inequality means the rich are too rich

And having a playroom makes you rich?

Come on people, we're not that stupid, are we?

since when has this become an ideal for anyone?

There's no shortage of empty derelict buildings in London, there's no shortage of empty houses and empty villages across the country. I am in the South East, it's pretty full and I am sure I could buy something lovely somewhere else with the price of my current house.

No reason to panic about lack of housing for everyone just yet. The current resources are just badly organised, no need to kick someone with a nice space out!

FloweringDeranger

Very interested to hear your solution.....

FYI, my tow in the US sets a minimum house plot size of 2 acres. The reason being that 2 acres is the minimum size plot of land you need to have a house and grow enough food to support the family

Lots of hilariously defensive posts on here.

I suspect the thread will die now that no one can beat MidniteScribbler's mansion with 50 acres.

Or perhaps Victoria Beckham will be tempted to post (isn't there are strong rumour that she is a Mumsnetter?).

Do you not know how many people are stuck in the renting trap now? In small overpriced run down places? Yes a playroom in a house you own does make you rich by most ordinary people's standards.

As for what do I expect people to do, I expect the current crop of Vritish upper middle classes to continue grabbing everything they can find with both hands with not a thought for anyone else, under the impression that they alone "work hard" and deserve everything they are being given while those working much much harder for less are worthless for not having had parents or grandparents with or their own luck or sociopathic tendencies required to get to the top of the highest paid (most socially useless) professions).

What I would like to see is a return to some self-restraint and a recognition of some common good, but no, guess it's the hidden corridors for the servants.

well, if you want to ration resources, we could also limit the amount of calories allowed per person per day. Huge savings to be made there too!

British, not Vritish.

Some of the comments upthread were working on the assumption there is a housing shortage. There isn't if you look outside the bottom right of a uk map. My 2 up 2 down terrace in a reasonable area of a cheap town recently sold for what we paid for it in 2003. We owned it almost out right, and used the proceeds as deposit for a 4 bed, bathroom, ensuite and downstairs loo, in a leafier part of town, nearer to the city where we work. For under £200k, as it isn't in south east England.
Our old house, and loads around it, were on the market for over a year. Most ended up being sold to investors, as ordinary people weren't buying them.
We don't have a play room, but the dining room is quite long, and the bottom half is looking suspiciously like children spend time there. I must remind the children that is too decadent and send them to their (shared, by choice) bedroom.
We might downsize when we get old, we might not, but we won't give up our home out of guilt. I could have worked fewer hours and stayed where I was. Or had better holidays and moved to a smaller 3 bed, no ensuite. I'm not guilty that my colleague rents with a family, she made her choices, I made mine, and neither would want to swap.

I'm buying a 5bed 6 bath house.

I'm going to have a shoe room. And a gym.

It's cheap. It's in my budget. Why the fuck not.

Oh there's two of us

We will have to ration calories if this increase in greed keeps up, when the environment collapses around us.

We need space for lying on the floor throwing money into the air

I want to move into midnites house!!!

Pretty please

We live in a bog standard 4 bed

No ensuites to bedrooms, no big halls, living room , dining room, 10 by 10 conservatory, kitchen,

A big lottery win and i am having a huge house, if no lottery win we will downsize at about 60