So just not to drip feed, me and DH have 3 children aged 12, 9 and 3 (girl,boy,girl). We purchased our first house which was a 3 bedroom semi detached, it wasn't the dream house more of an investment, do it up, sell it and then buy our dream home. We've now been here 3.5 years and it's coming along nicely.
So the issue is, is bedrooms for our children. I fell unexpectedly pregnant with our youngest a month after we moved in, and she is still in our room as it's quite a large bedroom but ideally needs to go in with her sister soon (12 year old also has a fairly large room whereas our son has the box room). It doesn't feel right to put a 12 and 3 year old in the same room but it's tough luck at the moment. We hope to move in 2 years time as scheduled, but looking at rightmove currently all the 4 bed houses are absolutely horrible, all very small or in horrible areas or the nicer ones are just far too expensive, but the larger 3 bed houses with big gardens and ideal location and within our budget are perfect and what we always wanted.
So my AIBU question is, has anyone purchased a house that technically wasn't big enough I.e not enough rooms for each child, but did a sort of extension/granny flat? This is what me and DH are thinking, save the thousands on a crappy 4 bed, buy a nicer 3 bed but spend the money saved and create a space for the oldest child. It wouldn't be like an extra house, more of an outhouse that has an ensuite so she has a toilet in the night etc. it's also somewhere she can stay for for a very long time and not rush to move out when she hits her 20's. Is this a great idea or a terrible idea? I'm aware of the annoyance of her having to walk outside to get into the actual house for food etc but I'm trying to think of every option here, it would be much appreciated to hear from people that have actually done this and if it worked well for everyone.