Buying a house that is too big

[Hels20]

Wouldn’t mind getting people’s thoughts.

We live in a nice 4 bed terraced house in SW London. We have a small garden. Pre Christmas, we were looking at building a basement which would give us another 800 sq ft - including an office, gym and extra reception room for kids. Our kids are 5 and 9.

We like the area we live in and finally, feel as though we have a community - although our neighbours on one side are a nightmare and horrible (constant verbal abuse directed at our children). I feel as though I am always telling my children to “hush” because I fear the abuse. The basement would create sound proofing and would give our children privacy as they became teens.

I was on Rightmove and came across a house that is almost double the size and has a large garden. It is a mile away from where we live - not such a nice location but ok. It is detached!! However, whilst downstairs and first floor is perfect - we would never use the second floor unless we had guests...and I think as soon as children flew the nest we would rattle around. But our kids could run around without being told to hush.

However - building basement would not require us to extend our mortgage (which is roughly 2x my salary (I earn more than DH). New house would mean doubling our mortgage and it might become a money pit...I am mid 40s...so not sure this is sensible.

Realise this is slightly hypothetical as haven’t even put our house on market and would not to touch up in a couple of places - but what would you do? Anyone else been in this position? (Realise we are very fortunate).

The house that collapsed in Chelsea was a basement conversion which went horribly wrong.

Move.

Your neighbours verbally abuse your children. Move.

Someone said it above, but there's no such thing as a house being too big if you have children. As long as you can afford it of course.

@Hels20 you don’t have to buy that particular house but I’d also look for a bigger house in maybe a nice location in that new affordable area. Do you know if it’s been targeted for improvement at all? If so, it’ll be worth buying now to get in on better real estate prices in 10 years.

Moving to a bigger house will incur very expensive EA and SDLT expenses, and probably put you in a higher Council Tax band.

If you extend a house you live in the council tax band doesn't get re-assessed until a new owner buys it.

But I wouldn't want to live with the risk, mess and noise of a basement conversion.

Unless you plan to keep your children permanently in the basement they will still make noise throughout the rest of the house.

Having awful neighbours myself I have promised myself my next house will be detached, so that would be my choice any day - but, only when affordable. Do you have job security (as much as any job can be secure these day) for the foreseeable? If your current neighbours dislike you so much, is there any chance they will sell up if they hear of your plans for a basement?

I wouldn't extend the current house given what you've said. The neighbours sound like a nightmare and will continue being so. Imagine how they'll behave through

Do the sums but I’d go for the bigger house. You don’t have to do all the work immediately - especially if there are self-contained flats that can be closed off until you have the time / funds / inclination to rejoin them. I wouldn’t worry about the mortgage - you’re still young and if you’re going to live there for the next 20+ years as your kids grow up, you’ll easily make money on the investment - properties of that size aren’t as common as terraces (even with basements) and the area will only get better.

Bollocks!
They'll be awful through the building work and make relations worse! I've also heard all the horror stories about the risk of converting basements including damp problems, hugely increased cost of work and even collapse like other people have linked to. It's so risky.

I probably also wouldn't move somewhere doubling my mortgage unless I could comfortably afford it but I agree that's not the only option available to you.

5000 sqft is 464sq m. That is absolutely huge.

I would start looking for a third option, bigger than you have, detached if possible and maybe an increase but not double the mortgage.

How good is the current conversion? Could you keep it in flats and get an income from keeping parts self contained? I would be thinking very carefully how I converted it into a house as you might want to turn it back into flats at some point... I am fully anticipating my SEN son (actually with few issues) may well be living with us on and off for some time and we are creating a self contained annexe which a grandparent will use in the shorter term and (boomerang) kids later.

Do you have a link to the big house? I would love to see it!

@Bacter

I think in London location is everything. Or else people wouldn’t develop basements. So if you want to stay in London. Stay and develop (especially as it’s more comfortable financially). As for your neighbours. If they were mine. They would want to move after they swore at my five year old. No doubt about that. Grow a back bone/take legal action. Whatever it takes to make sure they know you are not to be messed with. London mortgages are hefty. No way would I put up with harassment in my own home

Don’t go down the legal route if you ever plan to sell, it would have to be disclosed and would put most potential buyers off.

Our house is around 5000 sq ft. There’s plenty of room for everyone. However it sounds like that house needs work too. There might be a middle road here.

There is no reason a basement cannot be done safely as long as professionals are engaged but I would hate to go through the mess! Your neighbours would be a nightmare too. I would definitely move. But to the right house.

I'd move too. Away from neighbours. The house you've seen isn't the only option though. I'd wait to see if any closer houses came up for sale.

(and to set a rough age after which your housing plans don't prioritise the theoretical possibility of your children moving back in - say when the youngest is 25).

My one and only is 25 and still with us as he has had no joy in finding a job post MA. I have said I'd like him to have moved out by 30...

I live in a large house and there is only me and my Husband (and two Labradors)

Before we bought it (only been in it 5 months) we were buying something considerably smaller. That fell through, we viewed this one on a whim and it was just what we were looking for (in terms of style and location) we never intended to end up in such a spacious house, but the type of house we were looking for seldom became available.

The only draw back for me is the extra cleaning.

It sounds like you do t want to move.

What’s driving the move?

I wouldn't put more money into a property which already has neighbour issues to the extent of verbal abuse and that too towards children. Plus as long as you haven't filed a complaint about these with Police or council, it will also be fairly easier to sell your current property as against if you had filed a complaint.

Tbh you already have a very large house (if 5000 sq ft is double it, then yours is around 2500 sq ft and the average house in the UK is around 1000 sq ft). What do you need so much extra space for? If you can afford it and like it then absolutely but I'm wondering if you could change the layout of your current home or (more likely given the neighbours) move to an inbetween-sized house, or even one of a similar size but a better layout?

I'd do the basement but it will be absolutely horrific for your neighbors. They won't be able to work from home for months. It's mind boggling loud and not for short spurts. They will hate you if they don't already. Maybe offer to add some sound proofing to the walls that adjoin awful neighbors so there's something in it for them? You can do a lot of wonderful things by adding insulation and using soundproofing plasterboard. Then at least at the end they will get less noise from the kids. The too big house is huge and will be a money pit. The utility bills will be a shocker as well.

You'll have at least 15-20 years before you have an empty nest.
That's loads of time to enjoy a big house. And you can then downsize if you want to.

Bad neighbours and building work would be a total nightmare.

I would get a smaller detached house where you currently live

Getting the party wall agreement with the neighbours will be fun for a basement excavation! Years of hell lie ahead. Why would you even consider it? Sell up and find a great house.