to ask which house you would choose?

[Yummum19]

House 1 (current house) :

• Old and dated
• Situated on a busy road
• No parking
• Bathroom and kitchen need gutting and replacing

However,

• Lots of space/large rooms
• Has a garden

House 2 :

• Modern
• Situated off road
• Garage and private parking space
• Brand new kitchen and bathroom

However,

• Much smaller
• No garden
• Less storage space

We rent so no chance of renovating the house we're in. Which house would you choose? Not sure whether to compromise on space for the added extras house number 2 would bring. We have 2 children so I'm struggling to decide!

Keep looking, there is always a third option slightly further out. I definitely wouldn't pick the busy road for the noise and pollution, but #2 doesn't sound great either.

I think these things depend on what you are used to.
the off road parking, for me would be a real positive, but I've had 3 cars written off whilst parked on the road. In the town where my db lives, there is very, very ,little off road parking, so people don't tend to take it into account as a factor - it is just 'one of those things'.
Depends as well if can usually park within 20m or so of house or if you are talking 4 streets away.
Then 'no garden' - depends on ages of dc. I wouldn't actively choose a house with no garden with U10s, but once they get to secondary age, they don't play out there generally anyway, and are able (depending on location) often to go to local park / rec / play area without you for a bit.
In your circumstances, I'd have thought cost would be deciding factor - you want to be where you can save the most, in the shortest time.

If moving is an option then neither.

Wait and keep your options open (assuming you don’t have to move from house 1)

Neither sound great. You may well get a perfectly decent house with a garden coming on the market next month.

OP I would think about each of the factors you've listed and compare them - so you could do a [[https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_02.htm paired comparison analysis]]

Sorry the link looks rubbish, but it works. Basically you write down the factors in your OP and as many other things about each house as you can think of, and compare them with each other to see how important they each are to you. Then you add up the points for each and whichever gets the most is the winner. Well in theory anyway.

I've done it a couple of times when moving house/area an it has definitely helped (although I think each time I've probably gone with my gut feeling anyway...)

2 without doubt as you are renting

I wouldn’t not have a garden with children (given a choice).

Look for choice 3!

I really regret moving to a fairly busy road so would be inclined to go for hours 2. I can't open my bedroom windows at night in the summer, the noise is so relentless and it really gets me down when it's hot.
Not having a garden would be hard but could be mitigated if there are parks nearby