To ask if you regret moving to a bigger house, or if it was the best decision you made?

[Movingonupnowww]

My husband and I bought a small house when we were in our mid twenties. We have spent a huge amount of time and money making it into our home. We have a good sized garden, character features and as much space as the two of us need. What we don't have is parking (though on street is available) and at the weekend the local pub can be a bit noisy.

We have been talking about moving to a bigger property, maybe in a big village rather than the small town we live in now. Our house is worth probably around 230ish, a bigger house would be 350.

I'd be interested to hear from others who have faced the same dilemma. Is it worth financial stretch? At the moment we are able to save quite a bit with a good lifestyle so I worry that will go and we might not gain much.

Thank you for reading.

@User112 we went from SE England to northern Ireland. So pretty extreme! Followed DH for work, all a bit random but it's worked out pretty well and life is a lot more chilled.

@Movingonupnowww

The problem is, the housing available which we both like is characterful properties - which are in short supply here, and almost never have parking. We could probably move to a 3 bed in the same area with parking for maybe 300, but it would be a 70s house, which provides a lot more space but not the same feel. Maybe I've answered my own question?

What's the issue with parking on the road?

In terms of space, moving to a bigger house has been amazing but we have had some problems.

Our house was built in 1853 so as more and more problems have arisen, we're spending more and more trying to get things fixed.
Also, our house is so poorly insulated that our gas bill alone is £200 pm

I just moved to a bigger house, for a small three bed semi to a larger four bed house.

It’s just me, and I love the extra space. I have a decent sized study, and I changed to smallest bedroom into a dressing room.

There is more to clean, and it costs a little more to run (but not as much as I thought). But it is worth it.

I work from home now and it’s lovely to have about space to have a good working area that I can close the door on a forget about during down time.

Any house move is stressful, I don’t think moving to a larger house is particularly stressful in itself. I assume you aren’t talking about a ten bedroom falling down Manor House!

Second home owners get a lot of grief on MN but people being massively greedy about the size of the house they own get away with it - 4 bedrooms for one person?! Seriously, if we do have a housing crisis, this is definitely part of it. Otherwise, let’s have a free for all.

Where you are sounds great.

If you choose not to have children, then remaining where you are is a no brainer.

If you plan on several maybe more space would be more comfortable.

We are in a spacious home in an very urban setting.

I would keep the convenience and sacrifice space if I had to.

@Berkeys

Second home owners get a lot of grief on MN but people being massively greedy about the size of the house they own get away with it - 4 bedrooms for one person?! Seriously, if we do have a housing crisis, this is definitely part of it. Otherwise, let’s have a free for all.

I've said this to my mum so many times. A 4 bed 3 bath house is not for one person!

I agree to be honest. I remember my aunt and uncle (adult children, all moved out) and their "downsize" from a giant 4 bed detached with an annexe to a 5 bed 3 floor semi-detached. They've 2 bedrooms with nothing in them, 1 spare bedroom and a study.

I am in 3 bed gorgeous but very compact house and thinking to move to 4 bed larger house for an extra bedroom (for office), bigger garden, driveway and integral garage. I don't need it and currently have tiny mortgage which I could repay within 5 years - but being in my early 40s I feel this is my last chance to upsize whilst I still have energy, can afford the mortgage and my kids (early teens) still need the space.

I am well aware the time will come when I will have to downsize, and this thread makes me think is it really a good idea? Am I making a mistake? Thanks for giving me food for thought.

It has been for us, best move ever.

I was in your exact position OP. I swear your first post sounded like I could have written it 3 years ago. We did make the decision to move. Now we've been here for over 2 years. It's twice as big in terms of square foot size as our old house, and it's detached with a much bigger garden in a village, whereas our previous house was semi-detached with tiny garden in a very busy place. Overall we are happy with the decision, but some things to bear in mind:

Pros of new house:
The driveway - soooo much better than on street parking, I will never go back to not having a driveway
More space inside, we don't feel crowded or on top of each other when working from home
A separate space for DC playroom and toys, and therefore separate from our 'grown up' sitting room in the evenings. This will translate well into a separate 'den' once DC are teens
A big garden, with different areas for a playarea for the DC, a patio area for grown up drinks in the evening
Bigger house with bigger garden = more privacy and space from neighbours, less noise generally (depending on your neighbourhood)

Cons of new house:
We have 2 spare bedrooms and we thought when we moved they would be used often, but due to Covid were barely used at all over the last year and a bit. So we are effectively paying for empty unused space
Everything is more expensive - heating, lighting, DIY and ongoing maintenance, gardening costs, insurance, a cleaner if you have one etc
Increase mortgage costs = less spare cash each month. Depending on your lifestyle that might not be an issue
Everything takes longer because you've got more space to cover in the house - cleaning, changing clocks, putting clothes away in bedrooms, replacing the towels and loo rolls etc. Tiny things but they do add up.

If you're interested OP there's The Minimalists documentary on Netflix. At one point they're talking about typical (American) house floor plans and how the typical house out there has 3 different eating areas - a breakfast bar or island with stools in the large kitchen, then a dining table in the large kitchen, and then a separate dining room with another dining table and chairs. As they ask in the film, how fast would a family of 4 have to run to eat in 3 different places during the same meal?! It's very easy to fall into this trap I think.

But overall OP I would say for us the move has been positive for us in spite of the cons listed above. The pros definitely outweigh them. But it depends on what's important to you and your family.

I love our bigger house but we also moved out of London to the coast and have children and family to stay often.

In your situation I think I would stay put, your house sounds lovely, you like the area and it's not a financial stretch. I also think being in a town has more options than a village.

If you ever needed more space, would you have room for a garden office?

I didn't want a bigger house, but agreed because DH wanted it so much. It's much better than I expected. I hadn't realised the impact which lack of space was having, because I was used to it.

Six years on, I still feel like I'm living a life of luxury.

It's all the little things. I have more kitchen appliances because there is somewhere to store them, so it's more convenient. I used to heat water in the microwave because there was no space for a kettle, and make toast under the grill because there was nowhere to put a toaster. I even own a rice cooker, which I use constantly. Now I don't have to keep running to the shop, because I can buy things in bulk and put them in the pantry or chest freezer. We have some lovely pets now that there is space for them and all their paraphernalia.

There is space for an armchair in my youngest child's bedroom, so I can sit comfortably while I read to her at bedtime, which means I read to her for longer. And on the other hand I can now escape from my family for time alone - we used to have fewer rooms than we had people. The leaf stays in the dining table all the time now, so all the serving dishes fit on the table and I don't have to serve food in the kitchen.

Everything really!