Has anyone gone for the smaller, more affordable house and not regretted it?

[Housechoice]

As above really! It’s the debate I find myself having with DH. We’ve 2 very young DC (no plans for more) and are weighing up the pro’s and con’s of a reasonable house for say £350,000 with some compromises versus a bigger ‘ideal’ house for say £450,000 which ticks every box. Location wise both would be similar area so no compromises there.

The Mortgage saving would be big by not taking out an extra £100,000, so less financial stress/worry.

I’m looking for any insights on those who found themselves making a similar decision and whether there’s any regrets either way?

I have lived in two big houses, great in terms of space but downsizing now. I'm older and I don't want to spend huge amounts of time cleaning or doing gardening in huge gardens. In terms of bills the increase in heating and council tax also began to feel ridiculous and I earn well.

We stuck with our small house but only have 1 child (now 19). No regrets, mortgage free in our mid 40's, paying more into our pensions, lot's of holidays/short breaks (my favourite thing to do) & we'll be able to set our son up with a house deposit (he does not know this yet) & I hate cleaning. It has been difficult, especially when our son was smaller as we had little space & no downstairs bathroom but overall I think we've made the right decision for us.

We could have got something with real wow factor, but opted to feel more financially secure instead and have zero regrets. Its lovely to be feeling like we're living within our means, even with needing to remortgage next year. That's going to hurt, but not as much as it would have done if we'd bought the wow house.

Feels a bit unnerving to have gone against the grain when everyone else I know is totally stretching themselves financially, hugely investing in property and will no doubt reap the rewards in years to come. But we were both hating feeling like we couldn't go anywhere or do anything because all our money was tied up. Feels more balanced now we have some savings and aren't worried about paying the mortgage.

Not quite the same but we bought this house in our late 20s and when we had DS we didn't move in spite of it being a narrow 4 bed terrace with a small garden. In truth he is 8 now and we're past the garden stage anyway, plus we can afford several weekends away, savings and a holiday every year and will be mortgage free by 50. And, less cleaning!

We went for smaller than we could afford. Would love the extra space but one of our friends pushed and when mortgage rates rocketed, they were screwed. Still are, taking on extra jobs. It’s a mess. Very happy with our choices.

Totally agree about going for the cheaper option giving you more options later in life. I didn't realise how much I would want to shake things up by the time I was 50 - I just don't have the energy or motivation to keep doing the same job. Thanks to a small mortgage I've been able to retrain and change career, and it's given me a new lease of life. I've never been happier.

We went for the bigger house and now that we’re separated I wish we’d gone smaller as I’d be able to afford it alone. Not saying this will happen to you but it’s worth considering all possibilities IMO

True, but by the sounds of it, those children will likely come back to live after uni!

I always saw us 'upgrading' one last time, but life has changed - the cost of living, job insecurity, looming land tax (?!) etc.

We stayed as we had a proper think about our priorities. Our house is modern so it is cheap to heat and we have just about enough room for what we need.

It would cost £000s to move, and for what? Higher mortgage, higher bills, more maintenance and cleaning. No thanks. Staying put means more into savings, investments and holidays.

Absolutely agree with you, we live in a small cottage in the countryside. Three bedrooms ( one is quite small ), one bathroom. Loads of outside space. Been mortgage free for some time now. No plans to move anywhere bigger, what do people do with loads of extra rooms?

it all depends on where you are in your life I feel

I went from a 2 up 2 down to a 3000 sq m house, it has served us so well during the years of having parents and grandchildren

We loved the space, we still do, but now close to retirement we have chosen not to pay to keep this home running, just for s few weekend visits

But the space when we were in out 40's , the more important need

We stretched ourselves for the better house and luckily it paid off, but if our salaries didn’t increase we would have been skint but living in a big house. It worked for us but only out of luck I guess. It was probably a silly decision as it could have gone either way but I obvs don’t regret it as I love all our space and lovely house but sometimes shudder at how irresponsible we were to do it with the COL crisis in full swing

We went for smaller, more simple house. We're 15 years down the track. It's now paid off. Sure it has things we don't like, but it's made us debt free much faster.

DH's sister keeps trading up. They're now in their 50's and have just sold to trade up, and decided to rent instead of a huge mortgage in their 50's to free up cash. They could afford mortgage free something smaller, older, or slightly further out. But, they won't compromise. I don't understand why they won't go mortgage free or small mortgage. They're on £260,000 a year. Could be completely free.

Make your choice, as what you choose is not what suits other people.

For us it’s not loads of extra rooms, it’s each room is bigger. Surely you can see the appeal of more space?

Past the garden stage?

We went smaller house. Boring second hand cars. Never put anything on finance. If we couldn’t buy it outright then we didn’t have it. And yes our earnings went up too. All of which now means at 42 the mortgage is full paid off, we are saving at a ridiculous rate, and are so incredibly fortunate to have no money worries at all. Even if we both lost our jobs we would be fine.

The freedom offered by a small mortgage is priceless to me. Holidays, savings, kids hobbies supported, not worried about COL or gaps in employment.
weve maximised the house for our needs. Everyone has a bedroom & wfh space.

Yes - when DS was small he'd have a water/sand table out there or a mini football goal and so on. He now goes out to play in the park we face onto with the other kids in the neighbourhood, or he's at football training, or we take him to the town park. He doesn't go out to play in a 20ft by 12ft garden on his own.

Not really. I’m happy with the space we have. Each to his own as they say 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you could double the size of each room for free, would you?

We did, bought our house when we had one income (just moved abroad and I was technically on mat leave). Right now I regret it but that’s because interest rates are now so high we feel a bit stuck. On the flip side, we’ve been able travel and don’t really ever worry about money (pretty high earning household though). When I went back to work we were able to pay for a nanny when we couldn’t get a day care place and didn’t worry about it.

However, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish we’d stretched ourselves for our last 2 houses because we’d be sitting on a much better asset now but there was no way to be sure our incomes would go up so much. Now I feel like I’m in my early 40s and it’s not the time I want to take a risk. I wish I had in my 20s!!

I'm with you. I don't need more stuff to fill bigger rooms.

Adding to say, we both come from pretty well off families who have explicitly said they’d bail us out. In my 20s, I was really focused on standing on my own but that was the time I wished I leaned on the comfort of knowing our parents would let us go into arrears if it came to it. If we didn’t have that family financial back up available, 100% glad we played it safe.

We did. Sometimes I find the lack of space frustrating but then I remember that we are at peak "stuff" right now and in a few years all the Lego, Lol dolls, beanie boos and crayons will be gone, and so will the mortgage.

No our rooms are all a comfortable size. There’s just not that many of them. We have heaps of outdoor space and practically live outside for as much of the year as we can.