what are your must haves for house

[mum2015]

A wishlist can include so much but practically what do you think should be there in a house for say family of four

so far I have listed

• detached
• 3 bedrooms all atleast 10x12ft kind of size (no boxroom i mean) preferable on same level.
• a formal living room
• a kitchen/dining/living big family room
• a study room (can be used as guest bedroom room when needed)
• two bathrooms
• utility room
• garage
• off street parking

what am I missing? what looks not so essential in the list?

4 bed
2 bath ( including actual bathtub)
Big garden
Fencing and set back from the road
Newish kitchen
Study area
Parking
Living room
Utility area or room

• wouldn't have to be a house for me though and I don't care about a dining 'room' so long as there's an area

This is doing my head in!
But I live in London and £1,000,000 won't get you half those things within a very very long commute from my work. Enjoy what you have!

When my side extension is finished I will have 4 bedroom semi.

• 3 doubles & a box room
• family bathroom, en suite & downstairs loo
• utility/boot room from outside side door. The wc is off this room as is
• big kitchen diner with island & French door.
• we are knocking through our front & rear receptions to make a big one as we only use the back one for junk. Another French door off here.

-off street parking for 3-4 cars -good size low maintenance garden.

Aside from the essentials (number of bedrooms, catchment, quiet road) one thing that seems to be a deal breaker is the kitchen. I have 2 small children who love to play outside and if the kitchen doesn't overlook the garden, it needs moving!

Problem is I'm in love with a house at the top of our budget with a kitchen at the front and we can't afford to do any major works...

lots of storage added to the list.
so many things from these posts i would love to have but cant really accomodate in my budget/space that i have.
it is hard to get a lot of these if you are within london, even with dh and i working full time with moderate salaries. i completely understand families living in semis/terrace.
we are in a basic three bed bungalow and hopefully will be able to get most from my list with extension. It would all be fairly basic, not grand at all, but with careful thoughts and planning hopefully we will manage.
keep giving your views/ideas. really helpful with planning.

6+ bedrooms
Master with ensuite and dressing room
At least 2 more bathrooms
4 receptions
Study
Kitchen with potential, with casual dining table, opening onto garden
Big enough that I can escape from everyone else when needed
Double garage
Outbuildings
Medium sized garden - max 1 acre
Walking distance to restaurants, shops and ideally station
Gated driveway
Fully enclosed plot (ideally walled)
Old and eclectic, preferably listed 2* or 1
Max 15 minutes drive to work

1. must be on a road I want to live on

1. must not have any major structural issues (drains/subsidence/roof etc)

1. must have a garden

1. must be affordable

I think the Londoners among us have lower expectations. Which is a good thing.

If access to house via garage, then a very secure garage door, sturdy door from garage to house and a burglar alarm! If a burglar can get into your garage easily, then they can work away at the door into your house at their leisure without being spotted. After a spate of local burglaries it put me off knocking through to the garage in our new house.

A good thing about it is that I'll never be so grasping as to think I have to have 6+ bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. You learn to be grateful to even be able to afford to live in London.

Totally depends on your budget & where you are buying a house of course - where I live it is quite possible to get a very nice house with most of the things listed on here for under £250k - try finding a 'well paid' (in Mumsnet terminology ) job though !

Equally I woudn't dream of having to consider 'security' or an alarm - frequently leave doors & windows open with no one at home.

Naturally, if I didn't have to slum it in London in my 3 bed terrace, I'd demand to have a turret or two, moat, drawbridge, butler, chauffeur, coupla hundred acres and a personal chef.

Of course we are in the industrial wastelands of the north, so my requirements are feasible, at least in theory. Unfortunately, in practice, 2 years of hunting haven't turned up too many opportunities. Last week, I stumbled upon the ideal place, and the current occupants are over 85 and in poor health.

wow, some big essentials on this thread if you're not taking the piss!

op, your starting list is very similar to ours:

1600 sq ft
south east preferably to get warming the house or south back gardens
2 car drive way
two shower or bathrooms

You need to ask 'Can I afford this?' It is no good having a dream house if you have a mortgage that you cannot cope with.

Having said that I would check for

1. South or West facing garden
2. Downstairs toilet.
3. Kitchen diner
4. Downstairs coat / shoe storage
5. Somewhere to put a dishwasher
6. Quite location
7. Near decent school so you can walk to
8. Close enough so that you can commute to work via public transport or cycling.
9. A garden or park nearby.

I love our flat, my only genuine wish would be the exact same location / garden / character / mortgage payments but somehow magically transported into a 3 bed house with a @garden office" for DH to store all his crap!! And money to re-tile the kitchen.

But if I was looking:

Location that is walkable to shops / park / schools in family-ish area.
South facing private feeling garden.
Light and sunny rooms - big windows, high ceilings. Can't bear pokiness.
Ideally 3 or 4 beds over 3 stories
Proper dining area
Decent family bathroom
AIRING CUPBOARD. Would die for an airing cupboard.
Utility area
In my dreams - Period flagstone victorian kitchen with built in high wall cupboards. Spiral staircase. Sigh.

Eh? What is 'grasping' about wanting 6 bedrooms?!

Oh and a driveway for 2+ cars where you can both park and get in and out without switching cars around. No idea if it has a name, a double drive maybe?

My must haves:

• four bedrooms
• within ten minutes walk of shops and cafes
• good public transport links
• good schools
• highish ceilings
• nice area
• good storage

Nice to have:

• period features
• a great hallway
• more bedrooms and bathrooms
• utility room

Don't want:

• big garden
• spiral staircase
• murky spidery corners
• lots of spotlights
• shiny marble-effect tiles
• beams
• inglenook fireplace

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo,
You said really important point about garage door being safe if garage has access from house. I hadnt thought of it at all.

Our important features list depends so much on family, budget and seea, still it is really helpful to read everyones post. Some of these are important for me too though i hadnt thought of those before reading this thread. Some are becoming my wishes for when i retire and could move somewhere away from london price zones.

no seea i meant location.

It's a wish list not an essential list. I'm in a house with two doubles and a box room, terraced, one bathroom, on street parking. Complete opposite of your list. I'm a family of four. Our house works just fine.

Want rather than need!

true, wish list sort of. Suppose you have saved up for few years and can either buy something else or extend, what would be in your priority list?

I guess I would want a garden that wraps around the house or end terrace. Three double bedrooms and a larger kitchen with a big old wooden table in it.

I don't mind sofa beds/ moving people around for guests.

My priority is how the house feels. That it is comfortable and feels warm and light.

I think location matters most to me and a quiet street (not an A road)