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Original poster

Would you move, if you were us?

82 replies

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:14

Our wee terrace was meant to be our starter home when we bought 9 years ago. It was 750 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, though two aren't much bigger than box rooms. No parking, tiny courtyard garden (which is an absolute sun trap!), fantastic central location in the conservation area.

We're still here, we've had two DC, one of each, and we've extended a bit - knocked through and into the side return to make a large kitchen diner instead of a galley kitchen, and put in a downstairs loo.

We genuinely love it, it feels like home. We've been on the market twice in the last nine years, but never went through with the sale. We love the location - it's so handy for everything (school, transport, city centre, shops, entertainment, countryside - it really couldn't be better situated).

We'd always assumed we'd have to move as the DC got older as they'd need more space - but do we really have to? They do have a room each, albeit small. As they get towards adolescence, they'll be walking distance to school and town and the train to London. Would that compensate for a bedroom you can't swing a cat in?

We're in our mid 40s, and I'm not thrilled about the thought of starting a new 25 year mortgage. We've got £175k to pay on our current house, and we've been able to make regular overpayments. In the current climate I'm just not sure taking on a bigger mortgage is a great idea - not to mention rising fuel costs and having to heat a bigger house. Our current house is a mid-terrace, and we could definitely make it more energy efficient.

We could possibly extend a bit further, into the loft, though it's not big enough to make a dramatic difference.

If you've got this far, well done, and what do you think? Would we be doing a disservice to the DC to not get them more space as they grow? Or are we best staying in our little home and making the best of it?

OP posts:
badgerread · 24/02/2022 21:17

Stay! you sound like you have everything you need where you are and are happy. Why change it?

StartupRepair · 24/02/2022 21:18

Don't move! Spend a bit of money on wide open spaces holidays.

MoonbeamSprinkles · 24/02/2022 21:20

I would 100% stay

Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:20

@badgerread

Stay! you sound like you have everything you need where you are and are happy. Why change it?

I suppose I'd just assumed the DC would need rooms big enough to host friends in and so on as they got older. Plus they're both so tall - I'm having visions of having to fold them in half to fit them into their tiny rooms!

OP posts:
OohRahhMaki · 24/02/2022 21:21

What are your careers like? Are you expecting any sizeable increase in salary? Are your pensions on track to cover you in retirement without having to pinch pennies?

If not I would be tempted to stay put. Especially with cost of living increases.

As an alternative you could put any spare cash into converting the loft to an additional bedroom, and use it as a study or relaxing space for your kids as they get older?

Popetthetreehugger · 24/02/2022 21:22

Stay ! Unless you relish the idea of being a teen taxi until their 17 . If they can fit a blow up bed in for friends or your cool with them sleeping downstairs for sleep overs … your sorted 😊

PermanentTemporary · 24/02/2022 21:22

I wonder if you're a neighbour of mine Grin Sounds just like my house. There are moments when I long for more space - at the moment I have the contents of my mother's flat in my house which I am gradually sorting through and it is CRAMPED in here - but I love it.

My bf lives in a brand new town house on a new estate. It's great and very minimalist but there isn't a pub closer than a 3 mile walk, or a shop to speak of. I love being central and as I get older I think I'll only love it more.

StarbucksSmarterSister · 24/02/2022 21:23

I think you should do this ⬇️

Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:31

@OohRahhMaki

What are your careers like? Are you expecting any sizeable increase in salary? Are your pensions on track to cover you in retirement without having to pinch pennies?

If not I would be tempted to stay put. Especially with cost of living increases.

As an alternative you could put any spare cash into converting the loft to an additional bedroom, and use it as a study or relaxing space for your kids as they get older?

DH's job is well-made and secure, with a final salary pension, but his earning power is unlikely to do much more than (hopefully) keep up with the cost of living. I'm an actor - and as I've reached my 40s without being in any danger of being an overnight success, it's unlikely to happen now. 😖

I'd assumed we'd buy a bigger house, then downsize and buy outright once the DC were off our hands, rather than still be struggling to pay the mortgage on a big house with just the two of us rattling around in it in our 70s.

OP posts:
needanewplannow · 24/02/2022 21:33

How small is small, exactly?

CushionSpiral · 24/02/2022 21:34

Sounds lovely.
I grew up with my bedroom only fitting my bed and a wardrobe, that was it. Enough floor space to put a blow up bed for friends if you didn’t want to open the door and it was wedges between bed and wardrobe, didn’t think anything of it needing to be bigger as it was all I knew.

Uncomplicated · 24/02/2022 21:35

No need to move. Children need less room as they get older, not more. Once they get rid of all their dolls houses, train tracks etc. they basically sit on their beds and stare at their electronics all day or go out with friends.

LollyLol · 24/02/2022 21:36

Stay. I grew up in a box room in a small house. Loved my room. Learned to be very organised. My dad built me a brilliant desk on hinges so I had someplace to study quietly. I had occasional sleepover parties, mum let me use the lounge. Happiest years of my life, living in our tiny family home.

I’m glad you’ve found somewhere great for your family. Don’t overthink it, just enjoy it.

Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:39

Since we extended, maybe 800sq ft? No hallway or porch, front door opens straight into the living room, which is about 12x12. Then long but fairly narrow kitchen diner, which has a sort of "den" area at the end which opens onto the garden. Downstairs loo off to the side.

Upstairs, small family bathroom, main bedroom 12x12, kids' bedrooms 10x5 and 8x6, approx. Decent sized loft for storage, but even with a dormer conversion (which we might not even get planning permission for) it wouldn't make a particularly big extra room, and we might have to lose one the kids' rooms to get a staircase in anyway.

OP posts:
Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:39

Sorry, that was in reply to @needanewplannow

OP posts:
OldTinHat · 24/02/2022 21:41

I think you've answered your own question. Stay and enjoy, it sounds perfect.

mudgetastic · 24/02/2022 21:41

Are the kids complaining or are they happy ?

Reluctantadult · 24/02/2022 21:45

It's interesting isn't it, I was talking about this with my nana at the weekend. Saying we might need to move one day as ds will outgrow his room. I can't imagine him fitting in it as a teenager. But 2 generations ago there were 2 kids in that room and 4 in the bigger one!

Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:45

@mudgetastic

Are the kids complaining or are they happy ?

It's a wealthy area, so we've had comments and vague grumbles on their friends homes being so much bigger (they really are, you could fit our entire house into one friend's lounge), but we've always been very clear to them that we are very lucky to have what we have, and that we are, as a family, extremely fortunate to have everything we have.

I just assumed as they get older it'll matter more (they're 10 and 7).

OP posts:
Original poster
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 24/02/2022 21:48

@Reluctantadult

It's interesting isn't it, I was talking about this with my nana at the weekend. Saying we might need to move one day as ds will outgrow his room. I can't imagine him fitting in it as a teenager. But 2 generations ago there were 2 kids in that room and 4 in the bigger one!

So true - I grew up with six of us in a council house of a similar size. Though it had the advantage of a large garden that we kids were kicked out to most of the time to keep us out of the way!

OP posts:
halfsiesonapotnoodle · 24/02/2022 21:54

Definitely stay. Pp was right, as they grow they either stare at a screen or go out. It really sounds lovely. Don't uproot everything.

BurbageBrook · 24/02/2022 21:55

I think a bigger house will make sense for a few years but before you know it the kids have moved out and you’d soon be looking to downsize anyway! It sounds worth it to stay.

userxx · 24/02/2022 22:00

Stay. Who cares if it was meant to be a starter home and you were meant to move on to bigger and better things, it clearly suits you all and the best part is you love it, not many people have that love for their homes.

TheNoonBell · 24/02/2022 22:09

If everyone is happy why go through the hassle of moving. Just tell the kids it is a slightly bigger house and less money or more money with holidays and nicer treats. Let them ponder that.

Rotherweird · 24/02/2022 22:11

My DD is 13 and hasn't had a sleepover for years. OK, I'll admit she is not the most sociable, but it doesn't seem to be much of a thing where we live.

Your house sounds lovely - there's always a risk in moving that you can end up with noisy neighbours, a rat problem, or some other nasty surprise. Don't mess up a good thing!