Would you live in a small house for a nicer area?

[Faith50]

Dh and I are desperate to move with very little equity. We would be looking at a tiny three bed (1000 square foot max) but in a much nicer environment. No fly tipping, over stuffed bins, streets full of litter and graffiti. My anxiety is heightened when I return home each day.

I'm not sure to be honest.

I know there is that saying that it's better to buy the worst house on the best street then the best house on the worst street, but I think it also depends on how much space you realistically need. For instance, is it just you and DH, or do you have kids and/or pets? Will you be able to afford a garden, do you need one?

I think there is a lot of value in living in a nicer area, especially if where you are is rough or has a lot of crime. At the same time though, living in too small a space comes with its own difficulties.

That said though, at least you will still be in a three-bed. I'm coming from the position of being in a one-bed so pretty different.

Yes I absolutely would.

We live in a smaller house for precisely that reason and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Yes I definitely would. Who knows, in the future you may be able to extend.

Yes. Tried both. The not so good area when I was a student. Could have bought there when I graduated and had a big property. Wasn’t worth the worry and to be frank, the envy of my workmates in the better postcodes.

So, saved up, bought a small flat. It’s small but home and surrounded by lovely restaurants and has and the Park.

We live in the house we bought 24 years ago as a starter home pre-children. It should be hard to find something in such a nice location—unless they build the threatened housing near us. A few of our friends are a bit snooty about it as it’s so small and there was a time when we had teenagers that it did feel cramped. But the rest of the time it’s been great! We won’t need to downsize and we paid off the mortgage 11 years ago. The views over fields and gardens make up for the small rooms.

Yes we live in a very small house, its in the village I grew up in and a really lovely quiet area.

Your current area sounds awful so I’d be moving. Size of house and next location would depend on needs and budget. Personally, I live in a lovely area but the high street is a bit tatty so it’s affordable too. Maybe you could find somewhere similar?

Depends. Do you have any kids and how many if you do? Two adults and two kids - no problem any more than that and then it becomes a harder choice.

Yes, definitely. We live in a relatively small three bedroom barn conversion in one of the smartest villages in the East Midlands. It is the sort of place estate agents describe as ‘highly sought after’.

We could have bought a large 5 bed, 3 bath detached on a suburban estate for less than our little cottage is worth.

Your average suburban estate isn't usually an anxiety provoking wasteland of graffiti and fly tipping though age. The op isn't dropping floor space so she can stealth brag on MN.

100% yes. We live in a 3 bed 1 bath. Maybe 2 miles away the value of our home would buy a huge house. Our location is not only much nicer, has better schools but it is more convenient to transport too.

Absolutely not, no. Friends of ours have paid £100k more to move less than 2 miles and their house is ridiculously small compared to their old one. Our area is not as 'naice' but still ok (we've never had any problems) and our house is literally twice the size.

I absolutely would. We lived in a shit hole of an area when we bought our first flat and I would never want to go back to living in an area that I hated and felt unsafe. I used to dread coming home and worry about DH every time he went out. So I would 100% go for a smaller house in a better area.

Jojo the fly tipping/grafitti is not on my road or surrounding roads but towards town. It is still depressing and grim as I pass it daily.

Agelike, we are trying to move to a suburban estate but can only stretch to a small three bed.

Chewbecca This area has better schools, shops and is so clean and tidy.

Itsonly our current home is even smaller than 1000square foot. Our mortgage payments will increase by £300 too £400 a month though. The small home and scruffy town gets me down.

Do it! It's a no brainer.
I've had to live in shitty areas and put up with crazy, out of control kids who terrorised a whole street.
We had a big end of terrace house and had some roof work, so of course the 'little darlings' thought it was fun to climb the scaffolds and chuck the slates to smash them on the ground.
We ended up moving after the work was done as we couldn't take it anymore.
Moved into the countryside in a tiny cottage and it's bliss!

I’d definitely move for schools. If the town centre depresses you and you don’t enjoy the area, then it makes sense to move.
£300-400 on the mortgage just really depends on your circumstances so it’s difficult to comment.

100%. I am currently living in a 2 bed with just a kitchen and one living area downstairs in the nicest neighbourhood in my city. For the same price I could have a 3 bed with separate dining room in a different area. But I am absolutely loving life since moving to the nicer area.

Your mortgage will increase by £300 to £400 a month, is that right? So you are currently paying £100 a month mortgage? Unless your income is very low and/or there’s a drip feed somewhere re affordability, £400 per month shouldn’t be problematic. It’s a lot less than most adults’ accommodation costs.

Similarly, space wise, you say you are in a smaller home now than the one you are looking at, so it wouldn’t be a downsize for you? Surely the thread title is a bit misleading then? It implies you are downsizing for a better area, which isn’t the case.

FWIW, if it’s just two adults and again no drip feeds re dependent relatives, big dogs or a need to store giant hobby equipment (kayaks or whatever), a small 3 bed should be fine space-wise. It obviously won’t be massively spacious but it’ll be perfectly doable.

Ah, do you mean it will increase by an amount between £300-£400?

We just had an offer accepted on a much smaller place than we could have got elsewhere but chose this house because we wanted the location. That said the house is still big enough, just not as big as we could have got had we compromised on views, commute, pubs, road noise, etc.

I definitely would.

But declutter as much as possible first!

Definitely, but I like small houses and not much 'stuff'.

definitely go for area the thing is we all grow into what space we have bigger house give it a year and that will seem small.

We live in a house that's about 1100 sq ft. 2 adults 4 kids. It's fine. Our first house was about 800 sq ft. However it is unusual in the UK to list house size in sq ft so if you are from a different culture / country it might seem small. My parents' house is 1500 sq ft and for a short time there were 6 adults living there. Again, absolutely fine - can fit 10 people round the dining table etc. We don't have much stuff (although do have bikes, camping kit etc in the garage) and we have quite slimline furniture (think Ikea).

We could afford a bigger house in a different area but have chosen to stay here so we can walk to school, the shops and work, feel safe, have a driveway and a decent garden. I would say location trumps it for me, but there is a balance. We would compromise on area if we start to feel overly cramped where we are.