To never move from my starter home?

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We bought our house 6 years ago as a starter home. It's a 3 bedroom terrace with a garden. The third bedroom is a box room so is tiny. Since we have moved in we have had two DC a girl and boy.
It's in a good location for us very close to schools and reasonable distance to both our parents.
With it being an old house there have been a few issues and we have had to spend more than we wanted. We have now discovered another issue which is going to cost us.
I have looked at the market if we ever move we atleast would want 3 reasonable sized rooms and to stay within the area. The issue is whilst we could possibly afford the mortgage of a bigger house it would be our absolute maximum. At the moment we have managed to spend on this house because we have the equity to occasionally borrow abit and also have been able to save. We will definitely need to borrow for this latest issue.
I feel it has come to the point now we either move or spend. I do feel really we have no choice but to stay here. If we choose to sell the buyer would probably try to knock a lot off the price. I'm also concerned if we did move there is no guarantee the new house wouldn't have its own new set of issues.
The thought of how much we have may now spent on this house to move in a few years also seems ridiculous.
Would stay put in these circumstances?

If you like it, stay. A three bed is not a starter home.

I’d stay. You might just be buying someone else’s problems.

We never moved from ours - about to hit 35 years here! Paid off the mortgage very early, so money available for holidays, hobbies, investment and early retirement. Never regretted it. When I am on my death bed, I want to remember the interesting things I was able to do, not the fact that I had an extra bedroom/bigger garden/whatever.

Someone I knew bought a house with small box room they knocked the wall down. Took abit of the space form the larger room and rebuilt a new wall. So they all had reasonable size rooms

Someone I know knocked the wall down between the big and small front bedrooms, made them equal sizes, and used the back (middle sized) room as the main bedroom.

If you like your house, the are is good, have good neighbours and have got it how you want it, it seems obvious to stay put. You can change your mind later.

Keep saving and then youhave options later.

If you like the area, and a bigger home is too expensive, then stay!
The notion of a "starter home" is pretty outdated now. Plus I'd not class a three-bed house as a "starter home" anyway.
If you had three kids or no garden or you hated the area or you could comfortably afford a bigger house then I'd understand the desire to move. Otherwise, it's a hugely expensive thing (hello, stamp duty!) to do just because you feel you "ought" to do it.
Keep your money and enjoy more holidays, days out etc.

Could you have a big clear out and declutter? Look at each room and every item in it and see if it's still needed and deserves the space that you're spending on it. Get the house to its very best and then see how you feel about the house and make a decision.

You've still got enough rooms for everyone to have their privacy, if you do stay. OK so someone gets the little room. Usually it's the youngest.

I'd stay put myself. Spend the extra money on holidays!

I wouldn't ever recommend moving unless you really need to. It's expensive, stressful and however well you do your research, it's a step into the unknown.

My parents still live happily in the first house they bought in 1982.
If it suits you and it meets your needs why wouldn't you stay?
Moving is a pain in the neck.

Why would you be unreasonable to stay in a home that you like? Of course, stay.

I guess it depends. If the third bedroom is tiny and there's nothing to do to improve it then it's worth doing.
When we sold our last house, the buyers didn't have anything but a bare minimum survey. The issues you are worried about might not come up.
You can pay for a proper survey on your purchase. With experience you probably have a better idea of what to look for.
I'd get an agent to value yours and have a proper think about pros and cons.

We bought sixteen years ago. It was never intended to be our forever home. It was meant to be somewhere we could easily afford if I went part time for a few years after having kids (which I did). Unfortunately the market ran away in the first few years and I can’t justify the hundred (possibly hundreds) thousand pounds more for a few more square feet, especially when you factor in stamp duty. So we’ve done our best to make the house fit our needs and we have built an en suite attic room, a garden office and knocked through a kitchen diner. Is it what I would chose in a dream world? No. Is it comfortable enough for us to afford and works for us as a family? Yes.

Your house sounds lovely. The only issue I would have is that a box room may not be big enough for a teenager. Whether or not it is worth moving for that is up to you.

I thought you were going to talk about a one bed flat

You are a new build, marketing persons dream! Starter home, ie you must move to the next level up with us.

We moved from our starter house - a newbuild 3 bed semi with extended kitchen and long garden - to a 20 years old 3 bed semi with half the garden, no extended kitchen and slightly smaller rooms.

But better overall location by far.

We have extended into the back garden to get a decent 2nd reception space, closed utility cupboard with wm/td, and downstairs toilet/shower (had only 1 bathroom - had 2 and en suite in 1st house).

And converted attic, taking about 4inches from box room to make a proper staircase. Very good sized attic room, and box room could have built-in platform bed but we use it as a decent office/study.

We're there more than 20 years now and have no plans to move (unless we downsize to a cottage in the next "village" - we're in the outskirts of a city).

If it suits you, don't be afraid to get an architect to visit and give you ideas on how to use the space better (which may involve knocking/moving walls - think Kirstie in "Love it or List it"). Building work is messy but very doable and well worth making somewhere that works for you externally work even better for you internally.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think doubt arises because of how we first saw it/ it was sold as a good first home. Also we often get comments from family about when are we moving 🙄.

I get the comments about a 3 bedroom not being a starter home. Which is true I think it's the box room that makes me see it as such. Also we are from the north in an area where we do get a lot more property for the price. I imagine this house being 3 times as much in other areas of the country!

I do like the house it will definitely need more work doing if we stay. Remodelling the bedrooms or an extension is a potential one day aswell.

We are still in our first home - two double bedrooms and a box room. Raised our two children here. DD now has a single bed in the box room when she visits home from Uni, DS moved into her old bedroom when she went to Uni. He had the box room for 14 years.

If we moved now we'd have to start again with a big mortgage and I'd rather not as current mortgage only has five years left. I love my house, my garden, my street and my neighbours. Walking distance to all local amenities and beauty spots. I can sacrifice a bigger bedroom for what I gain here.

You aren’t making a decision now that has to be permanent.

How old are your children and do you have the potential to build up or out? Moving is so expensive and also unpredictable in terms of work you might need to do on a different house. It often makes sense to max out your first house and decide later if you need to move or not. Finances are typically better when the children are a bit older.

we started in a 3 bed terrace. Dated. After 6 years we extended the back and replaced the kitchen. A few years later we were able to do the bathroom. A bit later the windows and finally after 11 years we extended into the loft with an en suite. So then it was maxed out but a very different house.

After 13 years we were in a position to move and bought our ‘now’ house and have upgraded that over the years. Been here 22 years now. Probably should downsize now but we like it.

worth considering what you could do?

Stay for now. It sounds like it suits your current financial circumstances.

Nothing to stop you from re-visiting the idea of moving in two or three years time.

Converting the attic space, if possible, sounds like a good idea.

We brought our 3 bed home as our planned starter home knowing it needed full renovation which we did in tandem with becoming parents, now looking at prices and what we would get for the money im increasingly convinced staying here long term is the way forward. Even with nursery costs, we have been able to go on holidays, pay our mortgage and save a little. Like you our issue is the 3rd bedroom being tiny, but we have done extensive work on the rest of the house and have a large kitchen diner and snug, utility and downstairs toilet which we didn't have originally so it fits us as a family. My view is we go into the loft for a bigger bedroom and lose the tiny box room as access and make it a cubby study too (which works as I'm permanently wfh) so still a 3 bed but a 3 bed that works for us.

Me and DH have moved around because of work, but my parents stayed in a three-bed with box room and financially, it's worked really well - enough money saved for early retirement.

We still live in our first home and I don't think I'll ever move . We have a box room but there's ways to maximize the space to make it work really well , my DD has a box room and when empty it looks so small but with the right furniture it's great and she loves it .

It's always great to have wriggle room to deal with the unexpected.like redundancy, ill health or unplanned for expense.

Unless it was very achievable financially, I'd be thinking hard if your current home provides everything you NEED and you love the area. A new home is a step into the financial unknown.

I understand the box room isn't ideal. But many children have them. I did until I left home and I'm very tall!

Having options and breathing room can make life's hardships a bit more bearable. Which will impact your children more than a bigger bedroom.