AIBU to think a couple moving into in a five bedroom house is selfish?

[activedough]

AIBU here??

I’ve noticed that a couple have recently moved into a 5 bed detached property in my area. They don’t have any children…

I honestly don’t understand it. Why on earth would two people need five bedrooms?! Surely a house that size should be going to a family who actually needs the space?

It just seems incredibly selfish to me when there are families struggling to find suitable homes.

We bought what was a 6 bed when we had no kids. We extended and still had no kids. We do now have two.

You’re being a really unattractive combination of judgey, nosey and lacking any critical thought as to the many reasons why they might want to buy a larger property. But all you need to really know is that none of those reasons have anything to do with you.

It definitely doesn't say that in the OP . I would imagine that a young couple buying a big house will be having dc. Whereas the older generation buying a huge house that they have no need for is pure snootiness. I know such a couple. They had a 4 bed and moved to these new 5 bed houses as they are snobs. What chance have the younger generation of getting on the property ladder?

Sounds lush!

Ridiculous, what about all the stately homes? Should they be turned into flats? Should food be rationed? Should people’s gardens be only allowed to be a certain length and the remainder used as allotments? Only allowed one small car per family?
what you are talking about is Socialism and although it is a good idea in theory… that never works out for anyone.
In their late 20s they might be wanting to start a family in the next ten years or might want rooms for hobbies or home businesses, or have a large family or many friends that will stay with them or thinking ahead to when their parents will need to live with them.
I would love a large 5 bed and I have a family but the fact I haven’t got one is not the fault of people that do live in them.
There are hundreds of 5 beds on the market so if a large family wants to live in one they can buy one.

The young buyers you refer to are very unlikely to be buying a large 5 bed detached but the sale of them to any buyer does have the advantage of helping complete or advance ‘chains’. An older buyer(s) may have dependent adult DCs, they may foster, need live in care, or simply want to enjoy their savings in a large home.

Really, what people do with their money is their own affair and you can never know the reason why they spend as they do.

And if they remain child free? Where does that fit in your ladder of judgement?

😂😂😂

By buying the smaller 1-2 bedroom houses that they can afford

What planet are you living on to say there is no shortage of housing? In urban areas there is a massive shortage of affordable housing. The older generation are ruining it for the younger generation. Buying up properties left, right & centre. Most people are incredibly selfish and out for themselves and this post shows that in spades.

How is it selfish? Should a couple without children live in a flat and move the day of the birth of their child to a 2 bed house and then move each time to a slightly bigger house when they have another child so they never have more than their 'fair share'? Would that appease you?

They can buy whatever they like as clearly they're wealthy enough, regardless of whether they have children in future or not and it's not really anyone else's business what they choose to spend their money on.

Is this private accommodation or local authority?
You don’t know anything about their circumstances or plans. All you know is what you’ve seen- a couple.

My DD and her DP have just bought their 1st home. It's a 4 bed with a reasonably good sized garden. There is 1 room for them, one spare room, one room for their collection of animals (snakes, lizards, fish etc), and one room as a library for DD. They are not having children (by choice), and plan to remain there until they are too old to cope. After years of saving they deserve to live in the house they want and use it as they wish and not to be judged by others simply because of jealousy.

@Eire12 A 5 bed house won’t be affordable housing for anyone. Not even 50 years ago! Affordable is usually your first house. Not your subsequent family house. Most people tailor their family size to their finances so most people don’t need 5 bedrooms as they don’t have 4 dc. Others like 5 beds for a hobby room or guests or wfh. 5 beds are rarely a necessity and will never be in the affordable category.

If you think the housing crisis is because people can’t find houses big enough for their family to BUY .. then you are very out of touch with reality

So a young couple who may have a family in the future? If that's what they want. Not sure why this bothers you .

But a couple buying a 5 bed house they can afford isn’t causing the housing crisis. You’re conflating two very different issues.
I was in my 40’s when we bought our 5 bed house. This is our forever family home. It had been empty for 5 years. Nobody else wanted it!

Did we need 5 bedrooms? No but our quality of life has improved as we have dedicated office space rather than trying to make it work in communal living spaces.

Wow....you ok?

How are the people who bought them greedy?

@AgeingMillennial

But they might actually need the space. If you don't know their circumstances, you can't know for sure that they're using more than they need.

The house sounds lovely and spacious - good for them! Don't be jealous, OP, it's not a good trait.

My parent's house was built for servants - bells by the fireplace etc.
When they moved in I was a spoiled 17 year old brat I actually said "do you feel guilty for having so much money"

The fact that my father had set a business up and employed people for ten years then sold it completely passed me by.

Assuming it’s not a council house, it’s because they can afford it.

Fwiw, we live in a nearly 4000 sq ft 5 bedroom detached house on several acres. There’s 4 of us though, plus Dh and I work from home.

But when we were looking to buy our house, we did nearly 2 years of viewings (COVID and things were STC within minutes of being viewed), 95% of the other buyers viewing the same houses were couples age 70+.

Now why couples ages 70-80 were wanting to buy rural 5 bedroom properties with between 5-40 acres, I do not know. But my guess is that it was because they could afford it, not because they actually needed the space.

This has got to top, for me, posts of literally why is this anything to do with you? If we were talking about social housing, obviously its a topic but then there are almost no 5 bedroom social homes in the country and equally if there were it would not be allocated to a couple. So this is a bought property, of course. As other posters have said you have literally no idea of their reasons or circumstances- they may be planning a family and it was the perfect buy for them for their future! I am completely baffled by this. It's just a non concern!!

How do you know so much about the house? Did you want to buy it, and this is sour grapes?

Agree. Planning a family, one or both work from home, relatives stay a lot, good overall investment for the future ...so many reasons that are completely no one else's concern.

No local authority will allocate such a large house to two people. The number of 5 bed social homes is minimal in the UK anyway, and any that exist would be allocated to someone with a very large family.