To ask what you prioritise as a family

[Howhardcanitbereally]

Just that really. Once you have a family what do you prioritise?

Bigger suitable living accommodation
Decent garden
Affluent area with good schools
House or location?

Just interested really? We are in a tricky home / location situation and I wondered what others prioritised. I think I would prioritise decent, spacious and functional living (home) with garden for the kids above perfect location. Interested to hear other viewpoints. Thanks!

Same as you. Suitable house (and garden) over location.

Education is prioritised over all else. Education is the route out of poverty and the tool to self betterment.

Location!

Location. We are an outdoorsy family and don't really spend a lot of time at home. Location is far more important.

As long as the house and garden and going to be big enough we go for location rather than bigger house and garden. I find we expand into whatever space we have and don't appreciate it (like I said as long as there's enough space). I love that I have a lovely walk with DC to school, get to see some wildlife and lots of green space instead of having to drive, there's lots to do nearby too. We have a fairly modest house and could definitely afford much more elsewhere but we're happy.

House that’s safe - quiet lane, cul de sac, not overlooked.

We chose our house before children, (whilst pregnant) because it was close to the best schools. It is not a big house so we live our life to suit it. It is 3 bedrooms so we only have 2 kids, we try not to accumulate too much unneeded clutter.
We cannot afford a bigger house at the moment in this area and are not prepared to leave the area so are staying where we are.

Location and schools every time. You can always improve a house but not the location

For us it was a big enough house with a safe, enclosed garden. Schools not an issue where we are so didn't have to think about that thankfully.

Location. It took us about 5 years to finally decide where to move to outside of London because we couldn't find anywhere we liked that was commutable or affordable.

We don't have the luxury of being able to pay for education, but are well educated ourselves and I did well even though I went to a sink school in a shitty town. I'm more interested in my kids being happy at school.

Not interested in owning a big house and cleaning three loos every week. Or mowing a giant lawn.

So now we have a 3 bed terrace in a lovely seaside town 50 mins from St Pancras, and are very happy.

We bought our house before kids, big house, big garden, decent location, excellent schools, needed loads and loads of work. But now it's mostly finished and we have everything we need. Location could be quieter but would then be out of catchment and harder commute for work etc.

We picked a suitable house in a cheaper, but nice, area and use the extra money to independently educate

Interesting question. We moved to our current house because of secondary schools, despite DS1 only being 1 at the time! Turned out to be a good decision because the primary where we were is now in special measures.

Thank you for all the responses! Very interesting.

Our current accommodation is just not suitable or functional, way too small and just not suitable for us. Our only option now is to move to a much cheaper area so we would have a bigger suitable house that costs less than our current one. It would mean moving quite a distance but to a nice place, nice gene spaces, coast, really good schools but much more boring, less arty, location. Nothing bad about the area i.e. Low crime etc, just very different to current location. I think we would be happier as we would have a home fit for purpose (child with disability) and could actually have room to breath and a garden which we would all LOVE!

Well, I rent. Priority for me is both location and school as one begets the other. Then how much house you get for your money in the area.

In your situation OP I'd go even quieter places have more going on than you'd think and the rest seems ideal

Big house & garden
Location

I would choose schools over everything else.

And looking at your options of moving to somewhere coastal and green sounds like a dream for dc. Arty and out there is not especially important to young children. Safety, good education and space to play is better for dc.

Affordability!

Our flat isn't big, in a nice area and has no garden- but it is cheap, and we can pay the rent from DP's wage.

Location. Both for education and quality of life.

Compromise is:

Lots of DIY & scrimping for home improvement
Not much spare money for holidays/hobbies etc

Should add- that enables me to be a SAHM to our pre-schooler.

Financially education at the moment

For me it's location. I like to be close enough to my family that we can help each other out when needs be but not so close we live in each others pockets.

Compromise is smaller than ideal property, I'm in a flat over a house. Am trying to move but houses don't come up on our Housing Association in my area very often

For us it was suitable house, big enough garden but not massive as we don't need one that is very high maintenance. Then location - near to amenities (I don't drive) and decent schools (live in a city so there are loads of schools but just a handful of areas where they are bad). We managed to get a bargain on the house so that has worked out well.

We home educate so schools not a consideration, but location is a big one as I wouldn't want a rough area. A garden is important as we are home a reasonable amount so being able to kick them outdoors to entertain themselves is important. Don't mind having to drive to places so further out for space suits us.