Based on floorplans, which house would you buy? 2/3-storey?

[StrawberryCreamCake]

With a family of four (2 young children), working from home situation, and a budget for either of these two small 4-bed houses, which one would you go for?

The two-storey or the three-storey house?

Yes you’re right, the measurements must be wrong. I’ve just looked at the floor plan again and I reckon because of the shape the living room is probably the same size as my bedroom which is fine for a bedroom but isn’t that big for a living room. I think you would have to get quite small sofas to make sure they didn’t overwhelm the room. Not to mention the stairs look like they go round a corner meaning you would have the “pivot” nightmare from Friends trying to get them up there!

The house is clearly 12'10 wide soeasurement of bedroom 4 are definitely wrong

Only just looked at the virtual tour and it’s put me off the 3 storey even more.

1. Where is the washing machine? Weird kitchen layout.
2. I didn’t realise the top floor wasn’t full height ceilings - the special wardrobe in bedroom 3 looks like a nightmare. At least the 2 storey presumably has scope for a loft conversion if you want more space down the line/ has the loft for storage space.

For clarity, I've just checked on Barratt's website, and bedroom 4 is 6ft1in X 9ft0in.

there are numerous ways to configutre this but agree beroom 4 must be about 13 x 6'6" not 12'10"
initially you could give 7 year old smaller room on top floor and you and 1 year old share larger room
one of you uses master bedroom as office but at night can be a bedroom for guests lounge stays as adult lounge and bedroom 4 becomes playroom kids sitting room so during day you mainly live on ground floor with office upstairs so peace and quiet
after diiner you migrate to adylt lounge so can hear kids onsecond floor

Can you at some point make the carport an actual room that you could use as office/playroom /second reception in the future? Could you also then build about the car port extension to even out bedroom sizes?

I always look at extension potential in houses and less at what they currently are

@doggydodos

Can you at some point make the carport an actual room that you could use as office/playroom /second reception in the future? Could you also then build about the car port extension to even out bedroom sizes?

I always look at extension potential in houses and less at what they currently are

Sorry I meant build a third storey in the roof as the carport already is built above

I can't believe the architect of house 1 has crammed an en-suite into that tiny master bedroom. They'd be better off just leaving the room without and giving you the extra space. Dreadful design.

Do you have to get a new build? I bet you'd get more for your money if you bought an older house.

If pushed, House 2 would be my preference, but I'd view it as a 3 bed with a downstairs office.

Definitely number 2. The bedrooms are so small on number one - you would struggle to fit in even minimal furniture let alone children’s toys.

Go for the 3 storey. I have friends in London who live in a house which is a virtually identical layout (not a new build) and it works really well.

When the baby is in bed, you'll be in the living room so it's only one flight up. And your children will grow up before you know it and they and you will love having their own floor.

You could have a sofa bed in the ground floor office/spare bedroom for guests.

The first house is tiny and much less flexible.

Just did the virtual tour of 2 - I like it & coming from a flat it would offer you a lot more space and configurations. Where is the washing machine though? Is it a utility cupboard downstairs? In which case less storage space if there's only the cupboard under the stairs?

We actually live in the second one at the moment 😅 we use the 4th bedroom as an office and have loved living here, though are moving to a 2 storey for the downstairs space. The first one looks like bed 4 is tiny and I don't like a speaker kitchen without some living space (though with a second livingroom!) Which is what drew us to house 2 in the first place.

We have similar to the second, a bit bigger rooms, different builder. It's great for us but we don't have small children, ours are technically adults though 2 have additional needs. We use the 4th bedroom as an office mostly

I hated living in a similar 3 storey. It meant 3 bathrooms to clean and walking miles to put clothes away. I now live in a two storey and the kitchen diner is really good for cooking whilst homework is being done. It's much more sociable. So I'd go for the two storey myself.

Ps we like having the living room on the middle floor, closer to get to bed! Though ours has a bigger footprint and a large balcony

While your children are young you could sleep on the top floor in one of the bedrooms, children share the other top floor bedroom. Use the master bedroom on the same floor as the lounge as a playroom, so the bedroom is just for sleeping.

Could you look for a 3 bed with better living/bedroom configurations and build an office either in a separate 'garden room/cabin thing' or a partial garage conversion?

I looked at one of those 3 storey houses and came to the conclusion that as long as you can have a living space on the ground floor, they're pretty good.

I.e what I'd do is check a sofa fits in the kitchen diner and turn the bed4 into a little TV room / office.

Then in my plan, the living room upstairs was going to be one of those fancy master bedrooms with enough room for a breakfasting table. And I would have my tea there while gazing out the window. And it was going to be great.

Especially when the kids are teens and sleeping on a separate floor to me

Maybe a large 3 bed with a garage would work, you could convert a section of the garage to an office?

I've lived in a Barrett 3 storey and it worked really well for us (2 kids). The lounge was on the ground floor though, so easy for them to play out the garden and me sit and watch. It was difficult to sell on though as the downstairs living space wasn't great.

Given that the dimensions on the floorplan for House 2 are clearly wrong, and the rooms are in fact much smaller than stated, it is not a fair comparison really. People (me included) are getting the impression that House 2 has much larger rooms and so suggesting it's a better buy, but that doesn't seem to be correct.

Three storey no question. The floor plan of the 2 storey is terrible. Very top heavy and exceptionally small rooms.

We had a 3 floor but with a different layout, we moved due to having a second child but with that layout we wouldn’t have needed to.

From the virtual tour of the 3 storey, the living room seems tiny but the dimensions are fairly standard. I quite like the idea of the house though.

Absolutely check the floor space, #1 looks very small.

I'd go for #2. While your D.C. are small, I would use the 'lounge' as their shared bedroom, the kitchen diner as living space and the downstairs bedroom as adult living space. One of the top floor bedrooms as study and the other as spare room to encourage baby sitting friends and relatives.

When they are old enough to be on a separate floor , move them upstairs, use the downstairs bedroom as study and the living room / 'lounge' as adult tidy living space.

Factor in the cost of a stair lift for your old age.

The second one with an office on the ground floor and the children on the top floor.

The second one is so much more versatile. I'd opt for the three storey, especially with the extra bathrooms.