To think it will soon become more normal for families to live in smaller houses

[flipflopfloop]

With the recent rates increasing, borrowing costs are so high now that it would be at least 1200pcm in repayments for a small 2 bed house around here and it’s a relatively cheap area of the country. If not higher than this. Surely this will mean the days of having more bedrooms than people are numbered, and more and more families will have to make do with smaller living space - possibly leading to smaller family sizes even. I personally don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. They are building lots of new developments on the outskirts of our city with prices starting from 350 for a 2 bed. A 4 bed home with three useable bedrooms there is easily 450-500. I find it interesting to wonder who will occupy these as presumably they are not yet sold and you would have to have at least a 6 figure household income to be able to afford this.

I think for some of us the every child should have their own bedroom is really deeply engrained and it probably is leading to some having smaller families than they might have wanted.

I agree with this, though I suppose it’s better for siblings to have a separate room when they are around high school age. Definitely if they’re different genders, then quite before that. That’s a gamble you can’t be sure of when thinking of TTC a second child

Looking back to the 80s when I was a kid most of my friends shared a bedroom. En-suites weren’t that common either and very few had a home office/study.

Is it that interest rates have been so low and banks prepared to lend so much that we have become accustomed to bigger homes? We bought our house 5 years ago and looking on our banks mortgage calculator they wouldn’t lend us as much as they did now- 100k less. We would be looking at a smaller place for the same outlay.

We still have 3bed, renovated under 1000 a month with 10%deposit around mine.

But yes. I do wonder how it will affect rentals further and HA rentals because all this will have to show on the latter as well. I think the HA is still keeping rents around 500 in there compared to 800-900 private now (was 600 3 years ago) for 3 bed

There's a need for smaller houses already but judging by the number of 4 bedroom houses that go into every new development around here I assume that these are the most profitable for the builders!
DS is looking to get on the property ladder but there are very few 1 or 2 bed semis built around here and no apartments. The few they do build are snapped up immediately whilst the 4 beds linger on a bit longer.

Not necessarily. My partner and I can’t have children. It’s just us and the dog. We bought a 5 bed because it was a great price and we love the space.

Hmm, growing up in the 80s my experience was different. Don't remember any friends sharing and most houses had en suites, though no the tiny ones you see squeezed in nowadays. I don't know which experience was more typical.

That’s a real privilege.

To borrow 290,000 now (buys you at best a 3 bed older house in need of Reno) will be at least £1600 a month. That’s a whole salary for a lot of families. How will most families afford that when you add in childcare and cars and all the other outgoings you could think of?

I don't understand this post.

WFH doesn't help either as that takes more space. Unless you want to annoy the hell out of your family by taking over the kitchen.

Yes agree it will be. Though if holiday lets and second homes were restricted, the numbers would be fewer.

I think smaller homes are typical in the UK. Even apartments are small and not designed for families - I live in one. Yet my mum rattles around in her 3 bed house alone!

There are 4 of us in a 3 bedroom house, although DP and I obviously share a room, toddlers currently share, but we do have that third room if they want their own at some point, I guess!
Our next will probably be at least a 4 bed, we bought a smaller house this time to have more money left over from our sale for a decent deposit to start our portfolio.

A new development of 4 and 5 bed properties has gone up beside me. From what I've seen so far 3 out of the 6 houses don't have any dc. A friend's daughter got married last month and bought a 4 bed "forever home". The economy is going down the sink but this doesn't seem to be reflected in property sales. Private renters are going to be hit the hardest.

This is already the reality for a lot of people. I live in a 2 bed flat with one child. In my block, (all 2 bed flats), there is a couple with two young children and another flat houses a couple with three young children. As far as I can tell, we're all educated professionals. It's very telling of the housing crisis that none of us can afford a house.

To me a four bed was always something to work up / aspire too. So there will be people upsizing.

We have extended out to create 5 beds as I imagine there is going to be some element of multi generational living for my kids once they hit adulthood.

Separate bedrooms again isn't something you always think about when you have a second child. Some people can't afford it on top of childhood but aspire to upsize when they hit school age. Mind you, possibly will change going forward as higher prices = higher stamp duty.

Siblings sharing was normal when I was young. I don't see a problem however there will be a problem if private house owners are forced to do this due to costs whilst those in social housing or receiving benefits can get a bedroom each for DC as it is seen as 'policy'.

Grew up in a 6-bed. There were 5 of us, 3 generations. Then 4, then 3. 3 of us lived in a 4-bed, then a 5-bed.

However those thay wfh will need extra space - our extra bedrooms provide that

Siblings sharing a room was the norm when I grew up. I lived in a block of two-bedroomed flats, up to three children in one room. Nobody thought anything of it. I also lived in a one-bedroomed tenement (Scotland), which, when it was built would probably have slept six or more (two double-bed recesses, and I doubt the bedroom would have just had two in there).

Having lots of space in your home is a relatively recent thing. I'm not keen to turn the clock back on this, but housing has become so expensive it does seem inevitable.

It's been that way for a few years, one reasons people are having less dc.

I think the UK has the smallest houses in Europe already by square foot. How much smaller will they need to get for people to afford them?

s it that interest rates have been so low and banks prepared to lend so much that we have become accustomed to bigger homes?

I'm pretty sure low interest rates just helped people to borrow more to afford homes. I don't think houses built today are bigger than the past.

I don't think you're right.

I live in the SE, in an expensive area, and £1200pm is a 2/3 bed.

£450-500k is pretty standard for a 3 bed around here. My house is a similar value and we certainly aren't on a 6 figure salary. Combined we earn around £90k but was about £70k when we took the mortgage out originally. Most people in my area in similar values houses have pretty standard jobs.

YANBU about smaller family sizes. This is already happening and reported on. More families than ever are having 1 child.

Yes, and this. Our houses are tiny compared to most of the world. We need to demand a better standard of living. Most new builds are ridiculous in terms of living space (although have lots of bedrooms and toilets).