Has anyone decided against upsizing in order to spend more money on holidays etc?

[Hollyy4]

As above really. We could really do with extra space, but could ‘make do’ with what we’ve got, and would have the benefit of more disposable income.

Has anyone been in a similar position, and regretted not making the move? Or had a successful experience..

We couldn't bare to pay Stamp Duty so we extended our house, and will potentially extend again......much cheaper than moving for us.

We've held off upsizing for years despite being tempted and having the deposit and income to do so, but prefer the flexibility lower housing costs give us

We were able to both take a year off when our son was born, then only one of us return to work, and still do 2-3 trips per year mainly to visit family but still long haul flights. We've also been able to weather the sole earner being laid off and having to take a lower paid job, and still manage with a SAHP, regular trips, and pretty much having the same lifestyle as before (but saving considerably less).

We'd not have been able to do any of this, and could be in real trouble if we upsized when our income was at its peak.

Opposite scenario but we did decide to upsize and honestly I kind of wish we hadn’t. We don’t have loads of spare money due to larger mortgage and a bigger house is meaning more cleaning and upkeep. We moved to gain a 4th bedroom for DC3 so in the future we may be glad but currently I kind of wish we just had more holidays!

We didn’t upsize to afford private school fees. Best decision we made. I love my comfortable, easy to maintain house.

We’re having this debate, and leaning towards staying. It’s partly stamp duty as PPs say - for a fairly normal family house in the bit of London we’d want to be in, we’d pay more stamp duty than the cost of my first flat which I just don’t want to do.

Plus, job uncertainty worries me. I don’t want a bigger financial commitment than I need.

We have enough space and a big enough garden right now. More would be nice, but we’re happy without.

So for the moment at least, I think we’re staying!

We spent more to move to a safer location. Now I don’t worry so much about my daughter getting a bus home after dark. It depends on priorities I suppose.

Yes. We have 2 bed house with one ds now 13. We paid our mortgage off completely due to inheritance so could of used our house to up size but being mortgage free is amazing so we'll stick with that.

We did upsize and I am glad because I think post COVID with WFH our old house would have felt like the walls were closing in. I love holidays, but we can still afford what we want to do and we spend far more time at home - we are not the kind of people who are out every weekend, we are so knackered from work we barely move off the sofa 😅 and it is nice not to have everyone on top of each other.

Yes, bought house outright as cash buyers and didn’t want a larger property as I would rather spend the money on holidays and kids and Dh was able to retire at 53.

We upsized and there are pros and cons. We have ample space for our three children (who will turn into big teens and adults in 10 yrs, a beautiful detached home and we love the house.

BUT I’ve lost the freedom of being able to not work and it plays on my mind when my job is stressful. And I’m pretty stressed at the prospect of interest rates increasing.

Ultimately, I’m glad we moved though. Our old 3 bed semi wasn’t ideal for 3 kids, the downstairs was too small and I had nowhere to dry my laundry.

With the state of the housing market and cost of trades, it’s often cheaper to move now, even with stamp duty.

We didn't upsize. We are mortgage free and have two holidays a year. It's a squeeze. Our two young adult children are still at home in a three bed semi. Really we could have done with an extra reception room for when they have friends round, an extra bathroom and a bigger third bedroom. It wasn't a choice, more circumstances at the time we would have done it. I don't know what I think. I like holidays and having no worries, but at the same time it's flipping annoying when you're waiting to get in the bathroom in the morning!

We were considering upsizing from our 1930s semi to a new build detached but it’d mean bigger mortgage, higher council tax, higher gas bill, more time commuting, more cleaning, and probably a smaller garden. Decided to extend instead, new kitchen and bathroom, we’ve had a few nice holidays. I am so grateful for what we already have. No regrets. I say we can always move later if the urge doesn’t go away.

The mental freedom on no mortgage is significant. We've decided we'd rather stay where we are and have virtually no money worries.

It’s so personal - depends exactly what you would gain by the move and what you’d sacrifice. You have to weigh it all up.

We’ve prioritised a very large house with very large garden that we completely renovated. I adore it, especially the garden, it brings me joy every day. We had 6 friends to stay over Easter and it was wonderful to accommodate them all, kids occupied themselves brilliantly in our large garden.

I love having space.

Our holidays have been basic as we’ve focussed on the property. Most exotic holiday in the last 10 years was France. But I travelled extensively when younger so don’t feel I missed out.
Haven’t been abroad since 2017 but we’ve done some lovely U.K. trips and we’re an active/ outdoorsy family so we are ok with camping / basic trips. Also our home is so lovely and I love where we live so don’t feel the need to constantly go away.

Day to day we go without a lot other people take for granted eg we have just one car, no Netflix, no takeaways, clothes are from Vinted, I cut and dye my own hair, etc. But I’m fine with that and don’t feel like I’m missing out.

We don’t live a completely frugal life at all though. We spend quite a lot on DC and adult hobbies as that’s a priority for us.

It’s all about your personal priorities and balance.

I upsized twice and had the holidays by getting the additional mortgages on an interest only basis.

Sort of. It wasn't something we wanted to do anyway, but definitely one of the benefits of that decision is having so much more financial wiggle room. Hard to separate out whether it's a chicken or egg situation, I don't know whether I'd be more interested in upsizing if it was only going to be another hundred or two a month.

Housing as an investment also looks like a much worse bet than it did not so long ago. So maybe 10 years ago, people who weren't really arsed for a bigger house but could afford one would be more likely to do it because it looked like a way to acquire wealth. That is not the case in 2026.

We sort of did a sideways move. We went from
a 1930s 3 bed semi to a Victorian 5 bed terrace. It actually wasn’t massively different in price but indoor space wise it was significantly bigger & then we also added a side return extension. For us it’s definitely been worth making the change as it’s given us space to entertain and will mean kids can comfortably share with us as adults if there is a need to

2 bed semi with one DC. Added a garden room a few years ago which doubles as a second living room and great to use all year. We don’t have loads of money but it does mean we do have enough for a few holidays a year, we go out for meals a few times a month and we maintain the house easily without getting into debt. Now DC is an adult it’s much easier space wise than when there were loads of toys. We are glad we didn’t upsize.

We’re in this position currently, in a 3bed semi. Would ideally like a 4 bed and an extra room downstairs for study / playroom. Could afford it but the mortgage would stretch us to h tbh e point of life just not being as fun, a lot less holidays and disposable income for meals out etc.

We could have up sized but like a pp, we didn't so that we could comfortably afford private school fees on one salary. Now as we are getting older, I'm pleased we didn't upsize and are actually looking to downsize in a few years. Large houses are overrated IMO - expensive to clean, maintain and higher utility bills.

Thanks all. Lots of food for thought.

We extended as was cheaper than moving. The money saved from being mortgage free has helped pay for school trips, tutoring, car and driving lessons.

We’ve done a love it vs list it thing with ours. Could have afforded / would have liked bigger but instead spent the money we’d have wasted on stamp just making current house a total dream home, gorgeous design, great appliances etc. Now the reno is paid we’re not stuck with a bigger mortgage and just love what we have

We didn't upsize. We had 2 young kids and purchased a lovely 3 double bedroomed cottage with a big garden and we stayed where we were until the kids both grew up and left home. We never upsized and we never regretted it.

But we have never been the kind of couple to 'keep up with the Jones's' We have always lived well within our means and while our friends had their big detached houses and massive family cars and were stressing about rising costs, we were not.

We have always valued family time, holidays, trips out, nights outs and disposable income over having a bigger better house.

Now our kids have both left home, we are in the process of downsizing further to free up more money to pay off our mortgage and be mortgage free and to be able to do some travelling.

Life, to us, has always been more than 'property and stuff'. Its about the things you do and the memories you make along the way.

We bought a 2 bed victoriana terrace (in 97) have one ds. Small backyard, small non secure front garden. Bathroom downstairs ( but I grew ip with that so no issue fir me).
We did look at possibly upgrading about 7yrs in but actually room space was basically the same, but double the mortgage and we couldn't justify it.
We converted the loft, large bedroom.and we were mortgate and loan free before 50.
Layout of our home means that we will be able to easily convert onto elderly living, all on the ground floor with very little alterations needed.
I would move if I won the lottery, would love a drive, garage, utility room and a secure back garden, but we won't go into debt for it!