Location or house size?

[boymum9]

After a good search I know this has been asked so many times! But hoping to get more insight and whether more specifics may give me a better idea of what people would do!

As title says, we are stuck on a decision of location v house.

The decision is stay in current location and find a house (yet to come up! But occasionally do) that will be a smaller, likely 1400-1600 sq ft Georgian/Victorian terrace, probably only 3 bedrooms but could be lucky to have a small 4th, no parking and small garden but we adore the location, we've lived here 10 years and are v happy, love being able to walk around this area, nice shops, cafes, restaurants. Outstanding primary school in catchment, secondary school not an issue. Would be very top of our budget, no room probably to do any serious works initially.

OR

we have an offer accepted on a semi in an area only 1.7 miles away, the vendor has been messing us around a little and dragging it out for so long we're now unsure of our decision but now need to make a choice by tomorrow morning!
Area is OK, it's still considered a good area but less lively, less nice shops and restaurants but some nice cafes, quick walk to a nice park, "good" primary school. House is well under budget and we could do a nice extension out the back and a loft conversion and have 5 good sized bedrooms (family all live far away and would be nice to have this, currently in 2 bed flat no one can stay at!!) parking and a garage, bigger garden but not HUGE, closer to a main Rd.

We have two young dc's yet to start school and a dog.

I feel like I'd rather have the location but although dh feels the same about the location he'd rather have the bigger house, which I of course understand, but my day to day life v much consists of walking around our current area quite a bit which I love!

Opinions?! Thank you!

I would earfer location. It will be tight but totally doable and unless we are talking 3000sq the other house isn't big enough to make a difference. I speak from experience. All houses between. 1500 to 2800 sq are big enough for two children but not big s ough to have a positive effect on you quality of life.

I’d go with the first house, location is hugely important, and if you plan to stay for a long time you may be able to save to do improvements later, it will just take a bit longer.

Thank you for your reply, the other would end up being maybe 2500sq ft. Would the no parking bother you?

I think I'd go for location too ie the first house. Not nice being to a main road, mainly due to fumes not good for small DC.

Parking is only a problem if it's a problem iyswim? How many cars have you got and can you park in the road?

close to a man road

The smaller house in your current location hands down. Unless you’re planning more children and will eventually need more than 3 beds. No parking wouldn’t bother me in the slightest but I’ve always lived in cities so I’ve never had it. The only concern I’d have is that your current set up of 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog in a 2 bed flat sounds quite cosy so if it’s likely to be ages before a suitable house comes up in your area then I might reconsider. But that’s just my opinion! Good luck with your decision.

How have you coped with no parking so far?

I hardly ever go for location over house in these kinds of posts, but in your case I would go for location I think.

How many if you are there that you would consider 1500sq ft small?

Unless you're the von trapps, go for location.

And I missed the 2 dcs bit

Location always

1.7 miles is a tiny distance from your current location so are you talking about London?
What do you want from your home. It's not just about location or bedroom sizes.

When I lived in Bristol, I wanted to live outside the city in a more quiet rural setting but within a 25 minute drive from the city. This was perfect for when we were both working in the city and I really enjoyed the drive home after a long day because as soon as we left the city behind, I felt myself relaxing. It suited us for about 6 years but when I had DS, and was at home 24/7, I began to hate it. I had to drive about 4 miles to go to the nearest town just for milk and bread and some of my friends lived the other side of the city. The main living room was north facing which when you're stuck home with a baby/toddler feels very cold and depressing.

Kool, we're actually in Bristol, so currently in Clifton and looking at the move to Westbury.

We currently have parking for one car and a permit on the other, our flat is large so 1300 with front and back garden so not super squashed in by any means, but would like a house and not have people living above us! Also to have people to come a stay would be nice!

We are not in Bristol or London but have made the choice of smaller end of terrace house over huge semi detached.
Terrace is on a quiet no through road with locally famously good community and easily walkable to everything and regular London/Oxford train line. Double length garden but v bodged developer job.
Semi detached is six massive bedrooms (vs our three good, one box and one loft), off street parking but on a v busy road and with a raised trainline metres from the back of the house. Smaller garden. Train station is one down from ours and trains are half as frequent (don't stop as much as smaller station). Untouched but not wrecked by developer tbf.
My friend bought the semi (for £100k less than ours). We both chose what we thought would suit us best. Both two child families with both parents working from home occasionally.
So my advice would be to think about how you would live in it now and in the future. Good luck.

It's really hard because you're enjoying your lifestyle as is but time will speed by and things will change quite dramatically when the DCs are at school.

It's even more difficult because preferred area two hasn't yet yielded a contender.

I completely agree with duria that you need to start imagining life going forward, the routine, the down time, realistically how often family would visit. Kirsty Allsop always cautions that you don't purchase a home to accommodate others, but if that's very important to you, then there's your answer, you have to move a little further out to get more space, unless you find somewhere with loft potential and a planning precedent.

Thank you for all the replies! I'm finding the decision really tough! DH has kind of put the decision on me because I'm MUCH pickier, and I was almost hoping everyone would say "go for the bigger house!!" So I could say to dh with some confidence that we should go for the house we already have the offer on and not start the search again! We have already sold our place and will rent locally from family in the meantime, while we either do up the house or start looking for a new one!

Location.

I very nearly recently went for house and I am SO glad I didn't.

Location

The one time we bought with head, not heart, and got the bigger house we were both so miserable we sold up and moved again in under two years

Why don’t you rent somewhere in the new area ‘try before you buy’ so to speak? You might love it or hate it but either way you’ll know for sure.

Actually I would go for the house. Although I must say I'm in NI so they size of houses we live in here, I doubt we could ever afford over the water so. 1.7 miles really isn't far. Could you walk it? Also when the kids are in school all day your day to day routine will be different too. And it sounds like you would love to have family staying too. Sorry, I'm with your dh on this one

Ah, I see. We used to work at the University so know both areas quite well and have friends all over Bristol. I guess I'm going on the fact that the friends I have living in Clifton are all childless and/or at the grandparent stage.

I agree that the Clifton vibe is different to Westbury but it's really no distance between them if you want to visit shops and restaurants. As I said previously, what worked ok for us didn't work when circumstances changed, so I think you need to try to imagine your lifestyle a few years down the line.

Looking ahead for at least the next 5-10 years, consider if you're more likely to be overseeing play dates and ferrying kids to after school activities? Chances are, time spent leisurely shopping and meals out might get confined to the week-ends. IMO, entertaining several children is easier if you have more space. Having parks nearby is only good when the sun is shining.

You don't have a crystal ball so you don't know if your new neighbours will be swingers or you'll find a suitable house at a reasonable price in Clifton. However, if the new place isn't filling you with huge excitement, I wouldn't buy it.

We went with the bigger house - I didn't want to be joined to another (both kids play instruments) and all family live 3+ hours away so having spare room is big advantage. 2 miles is nothing anyway.

Westbury is way more family friendly than Clifton IMO. The distance is tiny in the context of Bristol and your priorities will definitely change as children grow. Only you know what's right for your family but I would probably go for a bigger house in Westbury. It's not as fancy as Clifton but still a brilliant area, hence high prices. And no students!!

We went for square footage and compromised a bit on being semi detached with restricted parking and a bit further away. So far so good. We've got a huge place in great condition at £30k less than valuation because of the compromises.

For you, bigger house.