to ask what’s more important, spaciousness of house or area?

[Toomuchtooyoung01]

Just that really!
What would you say is more important when buying a house (hopefully a forever home) -
more spacious house with better potential to extend in an ok area
OR
Slightly less living space but situated an absolutely beautiful area/sleepy little village in the countryside but only about 20mins away from retail park etc?

Those of you who put location above everything - do you or have you lived in a teeny house before? Because I’d love the luxury of choosing purely on location, but the reality is, our budget won’t get much more space and we are bursting at the seams!

Generally I'd say area is very important, but it completely depends on how much of a compromise the smaller space is and how nice the area is relative to the alternatives.

Location.

We opted for house. Area ticked all the boxes we required in terms of schooling, amenities etc but wasn't our number 1 location for various, it practically had what we needed though, in the end we prioritised house because frankly we spend more time in our house than out of it and if last year taught us anything it was that it wasn't prudent to sacrifice space for what would have been postcode snobbery (in our case).

We actually also chose to make the move from village to town as it felt like the best option for soon to be teenagers and independence for them.

Remember on threads like these that "area" or location means different things to different people. It over simplifies the location vs house debate. It depends on what you are actually sacrificing, is it schools, or is it simply a more desirable area for reasons you wouldn't even totally utilise (as was in our case).

Area always. Location is most important.

Area would be most important to me. My ideal area wouldn't be a sleepy village though but if yours is I would go for that house.

Area for me, but a good area is different for different people.

I love where I live, you would be very very hard pushed to get me to move elsewhere, we’re in Shoreditch so we could afford something much bigger elsewhere, but we’re very happy here. The only place we would consider moving to is Stoke Newington.

For a forever home I would want to be within walking distance of a decent number/selection of shops because I won't be driving forever.

Sleepy village with kids = taxi service every time they want to go somewhere

Area before size for me. Good schools, educational outcomes, nice neighbourhood, low crime rates etc. Small bedrooms over life outcomes seems a price worth paying to us.

@JackieTheFart

Those of you who put location above everything - do you or have you lived in a teeny house before? Because I’d love the luxury of choosing purely on location, but the reality is, our budget won’t get much more space and we are bursting at the seams!

Yes, it’s a compromise. We’re choosing to leave in a small space because we want to stay in the area - can’t have it all (for now at least)

Yes I also chose very small house for the location

We are in a very nice area atm (good schools, low crime, green spaces, near the train station) but we are in a 2 bed flat with 2 small boys and both wfh and I am always stressed by the lack of space...

Area. Always.

For me, area and size of garden. I’m always looking on rightmove and wondering how much it would cost to knock down extensions and conservatories to get garden space back!

area, which for me means a short walk to buy milk / newspaper and good public transport or bike routes for everything else.

pretty but isolated would not be right.

Area

It’s a balancing act.

I lived in a very upmarket part of London and we had a 2bed flat. We made a massive profit and sold for £100k more than we bought it but the houses were completely unaffordable, even 2 bed.

We’ve moved to a significantly less naice area but the house is perfect.

There were slightly nicer areas but the houses were not right - small third bedrooms, no parking, no transport routes etc.

This area is the balance and suits us well.

It it's your forever home are you sure you want to be so isolated? What about when you're too old to drive for example. I would go for area every time but make sure the area is suitable for all your needs.

If the house is big enough, then I would prioritise area over extra space / more rooms

We’ve moved to a significantly less naice area but the house is perfect.

I think this is it, I always get frustrated by these threads because people always overwhelmingly say location but I think when I say I didn't choose location means something different to other people. Someone's version of location might be good schools and low crime, and to me that's a given. But I did choose to move away from a naice area so I say I chose house over location, but in reality the location I chose ticks what I would imagine are the non negotiable location needs for most people.

When I say I chose house over location, I don't mean I chose an area with high crime, crap schools and no public transport to get a big house. Although people try to make it a one or the other decision, I imagine most people are making some compromises on both to get a balance of what they need in some way.

Area for us. So much so that when we upsized we fought tooth and nail to stay in the area. (We literally moved to the next street.) Our house is a compromise in some respects but every time I step outside the front door, I know we made the right decision. Lovely scenery, lovely community, lovely school.

Space for me, but then I very much keep myself to myself, so couldn't care less about neighbours and the outside as such. I work far too much to be bothered about daytime activities around me. Maybe if an area was particularly high crime I'd change my mind, but other than that, a spacious house every time.

It's not so straight forward.
Like so many have said, location is probably one of the most important factors, but you choice of location wouldn't be mine.
It also depends if you are in your 20s or in your 70s; if you have dc ; what age the dc are ; if you need to consider schools / commute / broadband; so many other factors.

Also an "okay" location for some would be a wonderful to others, but the same level of "okay-ness" wouldn't be considered good enough for others.

Space for me. Huge house, terrible area! I can walk into town and the station which is the real saving grace as I detest having to drive everywhere and wouldn't consider any house where i had to drive to school. I think this last year has also had an impact as having massive house and garden meant in lock down we could have different areas and not stick in same place all the time but since we upsized I'm definitely spending lots more time at home because I can. I think when I was younger it was more about the area but primarily in terms of transport links.

Worst house on the best street rather than the other way around. But ideally somewhere in the middle.