To buy this House

[TherapyRocks]

Head vs. heart issue.

I’ve fallen in love with this house but it’s on the small side for me & two teenagers.

It’s at the bottom of my price range so the alternative is a big, four bedroom new build type with all modern bells & whistles.

I’m worried that this house will suit me down to the ground but will be too cramped / too much of a compromise for two growing kids.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132915815#/?channel=RES_BUY

Attractive it may be.
No downstairs toilet or second bathroom.
Abysmal EPC at an E. It will costs thousands to get that to a C, if you can at all.
Sunak may have watered down the energy saving measures but they will come.
I would personally go for a newer build, lower bills and less repairs, less worry. And convenience of additional toilet/bathroom.

But there is a downstairs toilet, it's in the 'refitted cloakroom'

I looked on streetview and that isn't a window in the loft space, it's a louvred vent by the look of it. Apart from single glazing, perhaps improving the insulation in that area would improve the EPC quite a bit and as both I and others have said, there are plenty of measures you can take with your furnishings and possibly some secondary glazing over the stained glass.

I would be investigating any provision for further building that may be in the local plan going forward and why two adjacent houses were up for sale.

It's a hard call without knowing your DCs' ages and how likely they are to stay living with you much longer term. Personally I wouldn't be looking to buy a house based on the possibility they might want to have partners staying over. It's nice if you were drawn to a house with space for that, but it wouldn't be high up on my criteria. I'd also look at how to make the best of small bedrooms. There was a really good thread on here that I saved, but my older saved threads have disappeared now. Pinterest has some good ideas though.

@GasDrivenNun there is a downstairs loo.

I'd me more concerned about whether or not it's in the floodplain.

That's what I was thinking. It's a beautiful aspect but you would need to check it's going to stay that way...

I'm not that old, but I used to live in a house with an outside toilet across the yard (WC not ash I hasten to add.) People managed.

An en-suite means the bedroom will be smaller. And not very useful if other members of the household can't use it for showers etc. So I wouldn't bother.

I've made 4 bad house purchases, because I have always been a bit of a naive idiot. But in the end 2 of them turned out to be places where I happily raised a family. You just don't know how life is going to turn out...

Btw, IMHO it's not govt regulations that will be the main driver for people to save energy. Among other motivating factors, it's the increasing price of fuel which we are likely to see in the future. Maybe not in my lifetime, as I am old, but soon, and depending on what age you are, you will probably live to experience it.

Also, the emphasis on insulation at the expense of ventilation has given rise to terrible black mould problems in many dwellings.

Looks lovely 🩷

A room smaller than 2.7mx2.8m shouldn’t technically be labelled a bedroom in Australia.

Then that would mean huge swathes of the UK would have zero bedrooms in their homes.... It would certainly kick out two of the three bedrooms in my house!

British homes are frequently smaller due to less land mass. Don't even get me started on the lack of gardens and garages.

I wouldn't. It's beautiful but it's tiny, 2 of the bedrooms are under 10sqm.
If you live in a bigger house now it will be very difficult to keep it tidy and fit storage.

Since when is under 10sqm considered small?!

Looks like they meant 10sqft. Two of the rooms are a good size. One is small. There's another bedroom or study downstairs. I think the size is fine for three people. The teenagers will most likely be out a lot or in their rooms. They'll probably leave home in a few years.
I think the key consideration for me is whether the location works and checking there are no plans to build on the fields.

Sorry, me getting confused

So how does that work with the small tin roof houses in Victoria? The ones they call houses that would be called bungalows in the uk

It’s not small , much nicer than a boxy overpriced newbuild

Off the back of that comment I had a quick google as I don’t really see how it’s relevant here. Density of population in Australia is approximately 7.8 per square mile, 197th on the world list, whereas the UK is 34th at 720/sq mile. Even accounting for vast swathes of uninhabited land it’s clear space isn’t a problem for most Australians in the way it can be in this country.

Not sure how accurate this article is but it does show comparisons from around the globe. You can see how widely dwellings vary.
https://shrinkthatfootprint.com/how-big-is-a-house/

It’s really interesting to read the floods of “Oh it’s WONDERFUL” responses on here set against the clear difficulty that the owners are having in selling it.

Speaking as someone who has also had difficulty selling an older 'character' property in the past, I suspect it might be that more people want 'uncomplicated' houses with evenly-shaped rooms/conventional decor/less chance of things needing to be fixed in the near future, etc. While I can totally understand that, it's not me and DH - we've moved to another older property because that's what we like - but that was certainly the impression we were getting from some people who came to view. So I do think they're harder to sell on, and it's just down to the buyer to decide how much that matters to them.

I agree with @EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon and had mentioned reselling a few pages ago.
Many people won't look at a conversion or a Grade II listed property.
Some of my friends point blank refused to even consider houses/flats that were not brand new.

You're going to have trouble with condensation and subsequent humidity in the winter.

If this is going to be your long term home, if you love most of it, and if it is just as sound as the other home (or doesn't need much work) then you should go with the home you really want.
As long as they have their own space, teens really don't care how big the space is. People adjust and while this will be a family home for them, it is the home you will live in the most.
It looks fantastic from what I can see in the pictures.

It looks lovely but for some reason it gives me the creeps.

It’s about twice as big as where I live with 2 teenagers!! Lol. It’s lovely. Quirky. Won’t be everyone’s cuppa but I’d totally live there.

I much prefer older properties over new builds any day we love our house detached built in 1960’s I think this house is great op

Converted churches are never my thing - the windows are small and VERY expensive to repair...

And definitely check who owns that land behind it.

The new build wouldn't be my cup of tea either. But I'd compromise on a different older property.

I've just opened the link again expecting to see the house marked as STC.

OP, stop slacking and get an offer in!

It doesn't look that small to me! I'd be tempted to put in an ensuite shower/toilet into bedroom one to help with washing facilities but otherwise I'd say it was amazing! I'd love to live there.

The study could be used as a gaming room cum visitors bedroom if you're worried about that.