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Original poster

Would you rather live in a bigger house in a less-than-desirable area or a smaller house in a desirable area?

97 replies

NotCure172 · 16/01/2022 15:17

Just that really. I faced this situation a few months ago with DH and we ended up choosing the desirable area. Just wondering what would others choose?

OP posts:
HardbackWriter · 16/01/2022 19:23

Realistically it's always going to be a compromise between the two isn't it - if everyone was really prioritizing area above all we'd all be living in studio flats on this thread, some of them in Chelsea. We could have got a lot more house for our money if we'd lived just a mile the other side of town but we wanted to be in the nice, pretty bit near all the nice shops, in the catchment for the best school and by the train station. But the reason we looked in this town at all and not, say, the famously, tourist-attractingly beautiful one a few miles away is that we knew we could afford 3 beds here.

randomsabreuse · 16/01/2022 19:43

In some ways we've picked the bigger house in the less desirable area option but the more desirable area is well out of reach but is actually more urban and has more crime. We're also in the least desirable area in a desirable county so it's all relative...

The school is unfashionable but our experience has been generally good, especially (albeit anecdotally) compared with the more fashionable schools.

Socialcarenope · 16/01/2022 19:57

Depends on how big and how bad!

We chose area, and I'm glad we did BUT the house is still a good size for us and the area of the big house is pretty awful.

DeckTheHallsWithGin · 16/01/2022 20:03

We went slightly further out for a bigger but weird layout house in catchment for a good school when we had toddlers then moved to the better side of town with teenagers. Worked for us- the layout and school were good for us with little people and where we are now is perfect for teens. Also one persons dodgy is another person’s classy so be realistic about how bad it is- our less desirable house was still all owner occupied semis with very very low crime and a good school. It wasn’t anything like an inner city, just local snobbery.

Enzbear · 16/01/2022 21:51

Smaller house in better location every time.

oohmama · 16/01/2022 21:59

We learnt the hard and expensive way that location is more important than house

Sob

PiesNotGuys · 16/01/2022 22:02

I chose the big house in a dubious area.

Did up the house, area went from dubious to up and coming to desirable. Now have big house in desirable area.

EIIa · 16/01/2022 22:05

My only tip would be to avoid buying near fields

We deliberately bought in a 1930s estate rather than the fancy house across from the fields

We don’t have to worry about a view being ruined!

BrieAndChilli · 16/01/2022 22:11

It’s all relative really though isn’t it as no matter what house you choose there will always be a worse area with a bigger house and a better area with a smaller house!

We chose a house that was big enough for us - 4 bed semi. In the ‘better area’ across town we would have got a 3 bed semi. In the nearest city we would probably have got a 6 bed detached, up in the valleys we would have got loads of land and a massive house!! But there would have been a huge commute as not jobs up the valleys, or a terrible crime area in the city.

HardbackWriter · 16/01/2022 22:22

@PiesNotGuys

I chose the big house in a dubious area.

Did up the house, area went from dubious to up and coming to desirable. Now have big house in desirable area.

We sort of tried to do that. Area went from dubious to open drug dealing in the street and frequent knife crime (lockdown didn't help, as the police seemed to completely give up on trying to tackle this in favour of bothering people sat on benches in the park in the nice bit of town). Would not recommend. If we'd bought in a nicer area in the first place the house would have gained much more value.
Bear2014 · 16/01/2022 22:30

We bought a small house in a desirable area, 5 years ago. Not regretted it for a moment since, 2 kids later. We have a lovely park nearby and spend so much time there and in the garden in the summer. In the winter we're cosy. Just have to be disciplined about how much stuff you accumulate.

HotChoc10 · 16/01/2022 22:32

I spend so much time in my house so I went for the nicer house! For me it was being able to get a whole house in an (allegedly) 'up and coming' bit of London versus a garden flat somewhere nicer. Having a garden was always non negotiable.

Since Covid I'm definitely glad about the decision but there were times when i was still commuting that I thought we should have gone for the more central flat.

HotChoc10 · 16/01/2022 22:34

(also no kids yet. If I was thinking about school catchments etc I would prioritise that)

saleorbouy · 16/01/2022 23:25

Definitely the smaller house. Having rented a large house and paid the utilities to heat it (and we're not ones for a hot house) I'd see the smaller house as more desirable on a running cost basis too.
We realised what space we didn't use or need while in the large rental and have now changed our approach and vision of what we actually need as a family home for the future. Small, efficient well insulated, nice location.

Agadorsparticus · 16/01/2022 23:30

Our first house was in a bad area just for us to get on the ladder. We stayed 3 years and moved to a nicer village. House was not big but we love the village and plan to stay forever.

PickAChew · 16/01/2022 23:30

The better area, as long as the house met our needs.

Fl0w3ry · 16/01/2022 23:33

We chose bigger house in a less desirable area and we have paid a huge price for that in many ways!
Next time it would be smaller house in a more desirable area.

AdoptedBumpkin · 16/01/2022 23:33

Better area. Especially while DD is at home, which she will be for the foreseeable.

QueenFool · 16/01/2022 23:34

We may be moving to another house in the same non desirable area we currently live.

Our kids need a bit more space now they're teenagers so house size feels important to us.

I really wanted to move away a bit, but practically it's not going to work. So more space and less desirable area for us.

The street looks fine, we're not overlooked. It's a compromise we probably have to make.

baggies · 17/01/2022 00:44

Always location first in my mind. Didn't fall in love with our house when we saw it but it was in the right road and that was the deciding factor.

halloweenie13 · 17/01/2022 02:52

@NotCure172

Interesting to see differences of opinions! Both of the locations were ideal so it was just a matter of what we preferred
I'm a big supporter of smaller house in better area however, for some families it isn't a matter of opinion, the bigger house in the worse area is the only choice due to space or schools!
Happyhappyday · 17/01/2022 03:52

In London we picked the flat, but it was in a perfectly fine area, just not particularly special. We also 100% couldn’t afford to buy a space we wanted in an area we really wanted.

Moved abroad and when we bought our longer term house we picked the neighborhood, BUT by that point we also could afford the sort of minimum house we wanted. We found the “dream house” in another area but went for a less beautiful but perfectly practical house in a fab neighborhood. No regrets, although I do still hope someday we magically have another £300k to buy the dream house in our neighborhood :)

garlictwist · 17/01/2022 06:07

We are in the bigger house in a crap area and very happy. However we don't have kids and it might be different if we did - I wouldn't want to send kids to the school on my street as it's very rough.

D4c3 · 17/01/2022 09:10

It is not always a linear trade off. Pretty much all areas has less desirable estates and gentrification and also infrastructure issues that may never be solved. Then you have schools and distance or transport links to amenities. Different types of housing stock. Etc.

Generally yes there is overall space trade off but not often a direct correlation or significant one.

RitaFires · 17/01/2022 10:19

I went somewhere in the middle, I was priced out of my preferred location I could have held on and got something eventually but it would have been tiny and in poor condition. I then cast a very wide net and viewed lots of different houses, I could have got a fairly large detached house in a very remote rural area but instead I bought a 3 bed end of terrace in a coastal town because it had most of the facilities I wanted within walking distance. I made the right choice for me but someone else could have been equally happy in the remote detached house, I think it's a really personal decision.

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