215 sq M house or 145 sq. M house

[SilverDoublet]

My question is this, is a bigger house better, for a family of 6? We're looking at 215sqm vs 145sqm, what we have now. Is it worth moving for that extra space? All I can think of is all the maintenance, and having to downsize when we're old...

We moved from a 150sqm flat to a 250sqm house (plus garage plus outdoor storage plus garden). Family of 4 including 2 DC with ADHD and endless energy.

I'm not going to lie, it is a lot more housework and maintenance (although the maintenance is more the fact of being a house not a flat). But it is absolutely fantastic for the DC. They are so much better with more space. We will likely downsize at some point, but right now this house suits us much better.

However, it does also depend on other factors like location, schools etc.

Depends completely on other factors. How much space do you actually need, is the layout in both optimised or is there a lot of dead space, commute, schools…

More space has helped me in other ways too. I now can do just one big weekly shop and have tonnes of space in the kitchen to stock up, so spend less time shopping. We have space for a 2nd freezer so I batch cook which saves time too.

How old are your DC? I know in theory little ones need more space than big ones (toys etc and room to play) but mine are teens and take up so much space! And they still jump and run around loads.

I live in an 85m2 house as a family of 4.
I'd give anything in the world to move to a 145m2 or a 215m2 house. I'd love to give my DC more space. But I can't.
There are people living in tiny homes on this forum, and who are really struggling financially. I'm one of them.
Your post is very poor taste and tone deaf.

Oh come on, give the OP a break!

I agree with posters asking about other factors involved. We have a large house now with a fair bit of land - the land is annoying for maintenance (trees falling, ride on mower constantly breaking etc) but I don’t think the house feels that much more arduous than our two up two down - that said, we do have a cleaner. I love the space, especially for entertaining, and love having my walk in wardrobe however sometimes I look back misty eyed at my little cottage, old road and neighbours; we have accumulated an unholy amount of stuff and I miss quick access to London. Swings and roundabouts!

This is all to say that if you can’t think of a reason over and above more space, you may not be happier necessarily. What will you be trading off financially for it?

People can have different lives and problems. The title was clear, don't click if it's going to upset you.

Our house is about 120 sq m - we have 2 DC aged 21 and 20 so we are four adults. Sometimes I fantasise about a bigger house and there are some downsides eg storage, but on the whole we prefer to be able to afford to have the heating on all day which we wouldn’t be able to afford in a large house - plus the financial freedom of being mortgage free (we are still in our first home, whereas friends our age who have moved up the property ladder still have mortgages)

We moved from a 101sq m house to a 211sq m house when our 4 kids were 2, 5, 7 and 9. It has been a complete game changer. The kids all have their own rooms and DH & I have our own offices. I feel that the kids could stay living with us until their mid 20s whereas in the old house - admittedly smaller than your current home - it would have been a real squeeze.

How old are your DC? What will be the financial impact? For us housing is pretty cheap and we moved to a less desirable road within the same area so the increase per month was.only £450 on the mortgage. I was only in my early 30s too so downsizing totally not even a thing on my radar. My parents are still in MY family home for goodness sake 😂 Also if it makes a difference, I wasnt aware that you could pay for a full packing service. We literally lived in the house until moving day and the movers came and wrapped and packed everything. They'd have unpacked it for an extra few hundred quid too.

Hilarious.
The person defending the OP's post lives in a large house with her own land.
Of course!😂😂😂😂

We live in a house that same size, two dd share a room, it's very cluttered, just too small for us. However, it's not tone deaf of the op to live in a larger house and wonder if they should move again.

I do understand what you mean op though, about more space being better. Before we lived here we were in quite a large semi and I swear that bedtimes were easier for dc (then 2 and 5) when we downsized because the trip from the bathroom to bedroom was shorter! They had less space to mess around in! I do like that this smaller house is very easy to heat too.

We've done a similar move in the last year. We have teenagers. It's been great for entertaining, having their friends over, more storage, reducing mess and clutter, for example having a utility means laundry is piled on the kitchen table.

No it’s not.

The OP is in the post ion she could move so why shouldn’t she just because some can’t afford it.

and fwiw I live in a first floor HA flat with no lift with a wheelchair user DS. That’s not OPs fault or problem!

OP I would move if all other factors remain equally as good (schools/facilities etc) as you can always downsize again later and the space will be so much better as the children get bigger and friends come round etc. yes there will be more cleaning but also as children get older they can chip in with chores!

I don’t live in a large house and I’m managing not to be Professionally Offended at the OP 🙄 it’s a valid question, people are allowed to ask valid questions about their own circumstances.

So do I and I have a courtyard. Its 3 beds so dcs each have their own room and i wfh in my bedroom. It would be 'nice' to have more space but we don't 'need' it. Are you going to post on threads asking for advice on holidays next year as some people can't afford those?

OP I think it depends on your age, dcs age, can you comfortably afford it?

So no one else is allowed to have a big house because you haven’t? It’s not the OP’s fault that you are in this situation, total overreaction on your part and completely unnecessary.

I agree with everybody else that your post isn’t poor taste and tone deaf, ignore that comment.

I think we may have a similar house size and plan to move to a similar. We are definitely going to move, the extra space is going to be great for our 2 kids (and for us, with both working from home)

How dare someone else live in a bigger house than you!!!

There are six of them. A 85m2 house would be hellish. You have no idea where they live - there was somebody on here last week linking to a five bedroom rural house outside Hull for £170k. Two people on minimum wage could get a mortgage to buy that.

If you are quibbling about the mere fact somebody is able to buy a house when you can’t, honestly just don’t click on the thread.

Not how dare they live in a bigger house than me.
How dare they post on a forum about the dilemma of which size big house to live in when so many people on this forum are posting about financial hardship, COL crisis and struggle live in homes that are too small for their families.
I'm sick of financially well off people such as the OP and yourself displaying such huge insensitivity to other people on this forum.

You're one of them.
I shall name you all 'The insensitive ones'.😂

I think it’s hard to answer your question without further context of surrounding the area you’d move to and schools and how it would affect jobs etc.
if you can afford it and are confident that the costs are manageable then why not.

You sound very reasonable.

id report the post if i was you - in the reason you can explain that you have a small house so you don’t think anyone should be able to discuss having a bigger one.

My house is smaller than yours…

We have about 190m square. Family of 4. Its too big.
Look at number of bathrooms as i think that would swing it for me. Plenty of loos for number of people. 4 if poss

We have about 190m square. Family of 4. Its too big.
Look at number of bathrooms as i think that would swing it for me. Plenty of loos for number of people. 4 if poss