To buy a house I feel is too small

[GeriatricMillennial]

My husband and I are finally in the process of buying our first house, a good decade or so after most people we know. We have two young children, 3 and nine months, and no plans to have any more, but I’m starting to feel concerned the house we are going for is already too small. it is approx 800sq ft and I believe v little possibility to extend - it is a leasehold owned by the town’s heritage foundation and I don’t think we would get permission to cut down a mature tree that is growing close to the back of the house where we would extend out. There isn’t space for a staircase to go up into the loft.

I’m trying to tell myself that we’ll make it work, but looking around at the piles of stuff on EVERY spare surface and corner in our larger rental, I think it will feel quite cluttered and claustrophobic. However, if we pull out now there is nothing else in the area I would want to buy, and we would be paying more on a new mortgage with interest rates going up. Though this would still be much much less costly than having to move out in a few years to get more space I know!

We could possibly stretch our budget very slightly, but in the extortionate Home County we live in, this won’t go far, and would probably be a more ugly house in a worse location. I feel some time pressure to move as I would really like to be in situ to make the primary school application deadline by January.

This does feel very first world problems as we are so lucky to be able to buy anything at all, but has anyone been in this boat before? Are we making a big mistake?

What specifically about the house feels to small? The actual size of the rooms? The amount of rooms? Storage solutions? Remember when you move a lot of clutter can be cleared/chucked in the loft.

And what other options would there be for additional space and / or storage? E.g. garage conversion, or garden room, or shed?

Have you just ‘drifted’ into gathering clutter? Do you have it in you to reform in the opposite direction and operate with only half the possessions you own? I think that’s where you can resolve this problem.
I’m trying to declutter a four bedroom house so we can downsize to a two bedroom, although no little people like you have …. It’s blooming hard!

A house doesnt need to be pretty but location matters.
Its compact at 800 but you are at peak stage for cumbersome items like buggies, highchairs and toys which will pass.
any room for a decent garden shed.

It doesn't sound easy. With mortgage rates going up and primary school deadline I'd move and make it work personally. Get reading about clever storage. Take a stroll around ikea.

F

The house itself sounds lovely and it’s very slightly larger than my Victorian 2up2down terrace. That worked fine for four of us but we were v focused on being tidy, not too much junk everywhere and all the beds had storage underneath.

that size of house was built to house a family, often four kids or even more, we’ve just got it into our heads that we need loads of stuff and then need loads of space to put it in.

has the one you like got two beds or three, and it sounds like there is outdoor space where you could put a shed?

as you say the last thing you want atm is to stretch your mortgage, so I’d go with the place you’ve found and mostly sound happy about, and think about how to make that work.

It's around the same size as my first house. I bought it on my own before I met DH, then married and DH moved in and we raised our 2 children there until they were 3 and 4 years old. I felt it was definitely getting too small for us by the time we moved, but it was ok in those earlier years.

I would go for it to get on the property ladder, but you should both agree what your future plan is. Will you extend? Or maybe move again in a few years time? And if you move, what impact will that have with regards to schools.

Go for it - there are loads of ways to make it feel bigger. Declutter. Smart storage. Large sheds.

The next few years are going to be brutal with interest rates and energy bills. You’ll be so grateful to be in an affordable, cosy house. And the relief you’ll have to be in the right place for school decisions will be priceless.

Thank you all so much for your replies so far!

It’s both the number of rooms, and that the rooms are small e.g. no proper hallway. I’m sure some of the feeling was down to the ‘unique’ taste of the current owners so we would try to make it as light as possible, but it is a small footprint. It is a three bed at least.

Those are great points about a shed - I think we will definitely need one but it’s more living space I’m concerned about (and more so the fact I’d have to get DH to go in there each time I needed something to ping off any potential lurking spiders…). There’s no garage and I don’t think any prospect of a porch getting approved due to the lease.

We will definitely try and declutter, but as was said the littles do generate a lot of tut, though good to remind myself it won’t be for too much longer. It’s also more our rather untidy habits that I’m coming to terms with probably won’t change v easily that will be moving in with us…

There may not be room for a staircase up to the loft, but you could install a loft ladder. I'm sure you know the kind of thing. Then use for luggage Christmas tree and decorations etc
Can you give us an idea of the individual room size, rather than just the overall square footage.
And please bare in mind the ever increasing cost of heating a house. Small can equal comfort in winter.

Is it two or three bed?
It's an ok size imo, but you would need to be strict on clutter.

If anyone is like me and struggling to picture it, this Persimmon home has just under the 800 ft sq. (I managed to find a listing for a house like my sister's first house that is apparently just under 700 ft sq so used that as a guide in my head)

www.persimmonhomes.com/new-homes/teesside/harebell-meadows/the-haldon/2-bedroom-end-terrace-ifhdanzxgjcq

It is good to hear positivity about going for it too, thank you all. Though @dreamersdown I wouldn’t say cosy as it’s an E on the EPC! And only single brick walls.

So dream house this is not, but the best of the dregs left by the pandemic gold rush. Eff you, stamp duty holiday

@ozymandiusking according to the estate agent the measurements for downstairs are:
living room 11’2” x 15’11”
dining room 11’7” x 9’11”
kitchen 8’4” x 9’11”
hallway 5’ x 5’2”

As I said in the previously post unfortunately in this case small probably equals chilly going by the EPC

@WhiteFire thats interesting to see, thank you! Though looks tiny compared to my house so I’m wondering if I got the measurements wrong, or those are all v generous rooms in the Persimmon house!

My husband has just said, if it's single brick,

1. you can't cavity wall insulate.
2. If you wish to sell in the future it make be difficult, as Building Societies are sometimes loathed to lend on single brick houses. It must be very difficult for you .

Absolutely go for it. I know 2 different couples that did this last year, both downsizing from rental, it's going really well for both of them

I really wouldn't. The single brick, cold and harder to sell on would really bother me. And I hate homes with freehold. I really value separate living spaces. Silly things like is there a space for everyone's shoes or will you constantly be walking over a pile in the tiny hallway. But my priorities are different to yours.

@ozymandiusking thank you for asking your husband, does he work in this kind of area? I knew about the lack of insulation but not the selling it on aspect - this is quite concerning. I may have my terminology wrong - it is a solid brick wall (so no cavity) rather than a single layer of bricks if you know what I mean - I wonder if your husband would know if this is different in terms of resale?!

We did it. Moved from a large 4 bed semi rental to buy a slightly bigger than average 3 bed terrace. It's not our dream house but it'll do as our first step on the ladder. We'd never be able to buy a 4 bed in our area (also home counties) without building some equity elsewhere first.

It can be cramped but we make it work. YY to decluttering before moving, and again once you've moved and seen where everything fits.

OP all houses built before a certain date had solid brick walls, don’t pay it any mind at all - where I live the Victorian terraces sell on a regular basis and it’s not something that anyone ever worries about.

We live in a very small three bed house. It's tiny really, two rooms downstairs and no proper hallway. We do have three bedrooms but we also have three kids so the eldest two have to share.

Honestly, it's fine. I am sometimes a bit embarrassed about it when my friends with swanky houses come over, but I actually love our house. We bought later in life after we both lost money on break-ups/divorce and in other property, so we just never had the budget that some of our friends do.

Plus side is, we both work part time. It's not an expensive house and if something happens economically then we can manage.

We will try to move at some point so the kids can have their own rooms (they are still young and would choose to share) but only for that reason, I would happily stay here.

Sorry - I should say - we have TWO sheds and had the loft floored for storage.

It doesn't have to be your dream house to get you on the ladder. Have a really ruthless declutter, and go to Ikea and get some clever storage. You'll make it work. Families have lived in those kind of houses for generations and successfully raised their children in them.

I live in quite a small house that i can't extend, (2 rooms downstairs, three small bedrooms) but it's big enough for us. Let go of the idea that you should be entitled to a bigger or better house, and ask yourself if it's good enough for now. I bought mine thinking Id be there for a couple of years then move again but actually i love that we haven't tied ourselves into a huge mortgage that we can't pay with the cost of living increase. If we had moved to the big 4 bed with a garage i was dreaming of, we would be right up the creek now.

We have a 'small' house, living and dining rooms are 13'8 by 9'8 and we have no hallway really, the front door opens onto a small area at the bottom of the stairs with the downstairs rooms either side. Our kitchen is 9'4 by 9'3 but has a utility big enough for white goods and boots/coats. I actually find it fine, I was really worried it would be too small but I like the layout. We use one room for a big corner sofa, tv and kids toys and the other for a dining table pushed against the window and a chair/sideboard etc. We do have a big understairs cupboard which helps. If I were you I would use the smaller room as a sitting room and think about a corner sofa if you can, they seem huge but it seems to free up more floor space. Our house is solid wall and whilst not warm it isn't freezing either. Its a lot more pleasant in the heat than our old 1960s build. What sort of heating does it have?

@Umbellifer thank you for the reassurance! Solid walls are common in the town we are looking at too and they seem to sell well, so hopefully all ok

@Anotherdayanotherdisappointment @mistermagpie @Thatsenoughnow @whatshouldIdo2022 thank you all so much for sharing your experience of living in smaller houses! I’m glad it has worked for you, and I’m sure it can work for us too. I expected everyone to tell me to run for the hills, but perhaps in these times having lower outgoings is more important than the big house. @Thatsenough I think you’re right on the money with my feeling that we are entitled to a bigger house. My husband and I largely have ourselves to blame by choosing holidays and wine over a deposit, but world events conspired against us too and I do feel bitter, but need to get over it. Posing this question has really helped on this path. Thank you all, I really appreciate the insights.