Dp wants to move to a 1 bedroom flat!

[RhiRhi87]

Hi. Currently I am living with dp in a 2 bedroom flat. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and have agreed to move to a flat with cheaper rent to help us save more to buy a house. Dp has now suggested we move to a 1 bed flat to save even more. I am completely against it for a number of reasons. Just wanted some other mums / mums to be advice. Would you be happy with this? Can you see any problems this might cause?
Thank you

Hi rhirhi, i have a friend who does very well in a 1 bed flat with her 6 month old, but i wouldn't be keen. How long are you planning to live there, and is the living area spacious? I think (if you were ok with it) you'd manage space wise for prob six months, but after that they're (babies) gathering larger things and more things and you might be a bit squashed. Depending on your perspective, one bed works if you're hoping to avoid people coming to stay too

It will be fine if you organise yourself. I would probably want a time limit on it, ie. buy a place when dc is 2 or something like that.

I'd say it depends on what else is in the flat - is it an open plan kitchen-livingroom, with an bedroom and bathroom off, in which case I'd thing very hard about it, or is it one bed with living room, separate diningroom etc?

Large 1 bed should be OK, wouldn't go for a very small one bed, personally.

Good luck with your new baby.

Are you looking to rent? i.e. you could move fairly easily if you needed to. If you were only thinking of doing it short term (til she's maybe 6-8 months) I think it would be doable depending on how big the rest of the flat is.

Depends on the time frame for me. We were in a two bed flat when we had DD1, but she slept in our room with us until she was 1 yo, so we would have been okay in a 1 bed really - if the living areas were spacious enough.

I rented a 1 bedroom flat until DS1 was 17 months and it's quite hard. It was fine during the day but i couldnt sleep at night so ended up sleeping on a dodgy sofa bed in the lounge. How much rent would you be able to save and how much quicker do you think you will be able to buy a place?

How much money would you save on rent? Would it be worth the inconvenience?

I am 21 weeks pregnant with my first and gutted I am going to be stuck in a 1 bed flat tbh. We can't afford the extra money it will cost per month to move (£100 approx) when my wages will go down to just SMP at 26 weeks.

Even though we were planning on using a bedside cot and the baby sharing our room for longer than 6 months it's the storage that worries me most. An extra bedroom gives extra storage, the thought of all of ours and all of the babies things crammed in here is quite depressing. Will the savings you make be worth it?

DS was in our room until he was about 12m. At that point he really needed to go into his own room though (everyone kept waking everyone up). So it's possible but I'd put a definite time limit on it. Could be a good option to save money while on maternity leave when you'll be on a reduced income, however do take into account that moving in itself costs money as well.

Also think about where you're going to put larger things (e.g. place to put a pram - a hallway is convenient, dresser/changing table for baby clothes, space to dry your laundry).

We are in a private rented one bedroomed cottage and have little choice but to stay here for the forseeable (despite MILs insistance that the council will just give us a two bedroomed house just like that )

People are being a bit snobby/judgy with us, but really the baby isn't going to need it's own room till around 1 or more as would always keep in with us anyway.

Foof you can certainly speak to your local council - where I live a baby is classed as needing its own room although I know many other councils don't see it that way! If you aren't in receipt of housing benefit you may get somewhere fairly quickly - it took 6 months for me and DH to be offered a 3 bed council house as in my local area most families are on housing benefit and have been looking to downsize to avoid bedroom tax.

I couldn't have done it with DS - he was in his own room at 3 weeks (although I slept in there with him for the 1st 2 months). He was such a noisy sleeper though!

Then whenever we have had to share (at mums house) he seems to wake up at the slightest movement! He definitely likes his own space - as do I!

No we aren't on HB Rockchick. The way things are in my area I really wouldn't hold my breath!

I lived in a one bed flat with my dd till she was 2 and a half. It was great, never needed a baby monitor or had to worry about stairs. I loved being able to get a bath with the door open and be able to hear dd if she woke, that she had free reign of the flat and I could get to her quickly. It was great being so close to toilet and fridge (milk for heartburn!) in the middle of the night during pregnancy.

Babies are better in your room as long as possible. I'm currently pregnant and in a house this time, but still plan to have the baby in with me till 2 ish or stopping Breastfeeding. I think a room for the baby is a very low priority, as long as you have enough space in the living room for eating and toy and pram storage it's fine.

We live in a 1 bed flat with ds1 (6) and ds2 imminent. It's doable. It's not ideal. It's embarrassing and people do think you're crazy.

Pros:

• It got us through some tough financial times when not having such a ridiculously cheap mortgage could have broken us.

Cons:

• Lack of privacy. Dh & I make use of the lounge for "adult time" but it's hardly ideal.

Our flat has quite a lot of space even though it's only got 1 bedroom. When we move (next few months) we'll likely trade up to another bedroom but no more square footage. Having 3 decent sized rooms - big kitchen, decent sized lounge, bedroom big enough for double bed, small single and we won't be squashed with the crib - makes all the difference.

I didn't plan it, and I wouldn't have believed it if you'd told me this would be my living situation, but it's ok. Up to 2 yrs it's totally fine. Beyond that, I wish circumstances had been different, but meh, it's ok.

Has saved us maybe £400 per month at a conservative estimate. That's £28k over the 6 years... bloody hell.