Small house in nice area or bigger house in decent area?

[Marghe87]

DH and I are considering options for our first house. We work in London and need good
commute and good schools as we have a toddler DD.
Budget is limited considering the costs of SE so we ca either afford a small 2 bed in a very nice area (very small and with maximum budget) or a slighthly bigger property in a not so nice area.
We recently went to see a couple of “not so nice areas” and realised we don’t feel particularly excited about living in a place like that, even though we’d be able to get a slightly better house.
I do worry though that DD might not enjoy growing up in a small house (I did and always wanted more space) despite the more “premium” location. Equally, I think the area you live in makes a huge difference in the overall quality of life.

DH and I are late 30s and although we earn a hood wage, we are not on high paying careers so our earning potential is relatively limited (what I mean is that we wouldn’t be able to magically upgrade to a bigger house within a few years unless we manage to gain a huge amount of equity because of house prices increases).

What would you do/what did you do if you were in a similar situation? I’d like to hear what is it you compromised on if you had a relatively limited budget.

For reference, budget is £480K max and nice areas I am referring to are Weybridge, Hersham, Esher and surroundings.
Less nice areas are some parts of Redhill and Sutton.

Yes Hersham/Walton is a little more affordable. Also seems like a good place to invest. Sunbury?

Smaller house in a nicer area. Always chose location.

Move up north that money will get you a massive house in a lovely area.
Obviously I can't comment when haven't lived London area it's a different world x

@hailer problem with moving up north is potential drop in salary. I would lose a minimum of £500 a month instantly and the areas I would move to my mortgage wouldn’t be much cheaper

I've done both, a lovely house in a 'not so nice' area, and a small house in a 'nice' area. I'd pick the nice area every-time now.

Location, location, location each time for me. I had a lovely barn conversion house, in an ok road, but it was in the middle of a 'not nice' area. It was awful and I never got that 'ahhhh lovely, I'm home' feeling when driving to the house. That really had an a impact on wanting to come home, although the house was lovely, it felt fake somehow, so I ended up moving within 18 months and then spent 13 years in a smaller, not so nice house in a lovely area. I use to really enjoy walking the dc to school, I'd go to the local toddler group and made lots of good friends.

I don't know the part of the country you are talking about. But for me the area is important - but not necessarily in the way you mean. I don't want to live somewhere that tradespeople double their quotes and where it's all about keeping up with the Joneses. I don't want to live somewhere where it's footballers wives, bankers and solicitors and where wearing supermarket clothing instead of designer would make people raise an eyebrow. I don't want to live somewhere my kids won't understand the value of money or where they develop envy over others in their class going skiing every Winter or think nothing of spending 75 quid on a t shirt.

I prefer a decent area where people generally are in a similar income bracket. Where people are a little less well groomed. Where we fit in.

If location location location is based on amenities, schools, proximity to friends/family, having the right things for the lifestyle you want then I'd take the smaller house in the better location.

I wouldn't want to end up stretching everything financially to have a house in a particular area though if another option was also a nice enough area with good facilities.

Whilst location is important, Weybridge is one of the most expensive places you can live. You need to be realistic about what is a good location for a modest budget. I would expand your search generally across outer S W London/Surrey fringes and possibly concentrate on being near good schools.

@SongforWhoever It's incredibly hard to find locations that match all the below:

• easy and relatively short commute into Central and West London
• good schools
• safe/family friendly
• nice area (no rundown high-street, activities and amenities at doorstep)
• house situated within easy walk to station
• ideally within Surrey as that's where most of our friends and family are and where we are familiar with
• a decent number of 2 bed or small 3 bed houses available on the market

So, based on this, we have a shortlist of Walton on Thames, Hersham, Epsom (so not directly Esher and Weybridge although they are very close to the above).
There is of course other towns in surrey that match some of those criteria but they are either a bit rough or not well connected with trains.

@ProbablyRomanticised I agree with this point but around London, it seems to be either one or the other more or less... I am sure though that if there are houses within our budget, not everyone living there will be a millionaire?

@CleaningOutMyCloset exactly how I feel right now

As other posters have mentioned, look at West Byfleet (regenerating the area at the moment), and Horsell in Woking which is very desirable as it's walking distance to Woking and a lovely village. Walton isn't that great considering the house prices, and it would be quicker to get into London from Horsell

Depends how bad the not so nice area is, I’ve done small (was a flat) in a nice area and was fed up of the house being cluttered and not having room for basic things such as clothes and furniture. I now live in a 3 bed house in an okay area and I much prefer it.

@starlilly88 will check Horsell but I really don't like Woking and trains from there are very expensive too :(

What space does the small house have to expand? Is there space to build a Teenager Den in the garden? Depending on space and cost and possibly planning permission, you could have it hooked up to electric and even plumbing.

I would really focus your search on schools within the areas you have mentioned. One of the problems with moving to a super expensive area is that the majority of the children will tend to go to private schools so the state schools can struggle and you end up with a very clearly delineated two tier system with little mixing. This has happened in lots of the most desirable parts of London. You might be better off in a more aspiring area where there is a broader mix of families at the state schools (assuming you can't afford private).

I wish a similar discussion was had for Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
If there are any please share them with me.

Good luck with your search OP.

Bigger is better!

What did you end up doing in the end? These are my stomping grounds when younger. Know the whole area very well. You seem to be very attracted to Esher, but cobham is more naice and also more small homes available in your price range. It’s academic anyway as they are 10 mins from one another. Thames Ditton or hersham would be ideal for you as both 5 mins from Esher but also have their own stations. TD is half way to surbiton, and Hersham halfway to weybridge.

I do think what a pp said about schools is valid. Because so many use private the pull on area for the states are huge. I lived in cobham and would commute to weybridge and back twice a day. My school friends lived all over so it doesn’t really matter where you live as your likely going to be ferrying the kids around half of Surrey anyway!

Theres good and bad steers in everyone of the locations you and I mention. I really would just view view view. Or move here to rent for a bit first so you can get more of a feel if your unlikely to move again.

I used to live in esher and now just 10 mins away, and i'm shocked there are houses for 450k. 2 bed flats were averaging 500k.