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?

@whatshouldIdo2022 that’s good to hear about the heating. We will be replacing an old Baxi boiler in the lounge but not sure what to get. I would like a combi as would free up space in the master bedroom cupboard taking out the tank, but understand (mainly from MN threads, god bless you all) they aren’t always great. Can I ask what you have?

When I first viewed my house I thought it was tiny in comparison to my rental.i walked straight out. But after a couple of weeks contemplating it was what I could really afford rather than a bigger place that would stretch my finances mortgage wise, I went back and realised that we could make it work.

We've been here several years now and I actually love my little house. Having a smaller place is a great way of not collecting loads of junk, you only have what you need. Cheaper energy bills.

We have oil and an ancient old boiler, we did look at getting a combi but are undecided because wherever they put it, it will cause problems like replacing flooriing or having pipes up the interior walls. Combi boilers can apparently be quite big and the one we were recommended is the same size as our old boiler but can't go in the convenient boiler alcove so we'd lose space elsewhere by changing. Another plus of a smaller house is less to clean! I also have a sort of motto that any furniture needs to have a storage element so we have 2 ottoman beds, a kitchen trolley that offers more storage and also counter space etc.

To be blunt: very few people can afford to but in the same area they’ve been renting (or where they work, come to that). You’re going to have to chooae between a house the right size for you, or moving to a cheaper area, or renting for life 😬

We chose the 1 hr commute miles from family for the big house and its great but you may feel differently 🤷‍♀️

I'm going to go against the grain and say if it feels too small now it will feel even smaller as the kids get bigger. Teenagers take up a lot of space!

Single brick is normal and nothing to be concerned about. Most older houses are single brick. Mine is. My concern would be that it’s leasehold. How long is the lease? I’m not sure I’d want a leasehold house ever.

Edit: I thought I was creating my own thread! Sorry, will try and make my own one. This doesn't relate to the OP

Hi I have a question about a shared ownership house that I may be moving into with my husband and 1 year old. The only problem is it's quite bit small and I'm not sure about some things on the lease like the length and how the rent rises are calculated
Here's my pros and cons list for the house, what would you do if it was you?

Pros

• It's the perfect area, near outstanding schools for my 1 year old
• The street is very family friendly, kids and good community
• good parking
• it's cheaper than what I pay now in rent
• shared ownership, foot on the housing ladder we wouldn't get otherwise
• 3 bedrooms, up from 2
• near some people I know in a city without my family
• attic and large shed for storage
• would feel like a secure family home, could have another baby which we want.

Cons

• the bedrooms are quite small, the downstairs doesn't have much space, no utility room only a small kitchen and small lounge
• The previous owner hasn't taken care of the house, broken window, holes in wall, bathroom needs entirely replacing
• it's shared ownership, we will be at the mercy of a housing association, can't make changes without their permission. Etc
• rent rises are yearly and based on RPI, newer new builds scrapped this as its unfair to tenants, anxious about buying into this
• lease length is 112 years left, we would move in 10 years time, but we would HAVE to move since the lease length will look unattractive the longer we wait
• when we move its unlikely we will be able to get a house in the same area
• shared ownership so I'm not sure if we will build much equity in 10 years time as the deposit will be small and the housing association will take 60%

I think I could make do with the smaller house, if I knew it would be secure in terms of the rent rises and lease length

What would you do?

What are the measurements of the bedrooms? I have raised three children in my house which has a smaller area. I have no dining room, same size living room and slightly larger kitchen by a 1 foot each way..

i think you are in the situation where you have expanded your possessions to fill the space available. To make this work you have to give up on the ‘inevitable’ attitude regarding how many possessions you all have. Declutter now and I think you will be pleased at the amount of extra space you have.