Generous 2 bed flat (with hallway) or 3 bed flat (with box room)

[rosetintedmemories2023]

What is a more sensible upgrade?

We would like to stay in flats long term - mortgage crisis has confirmed to us that we don't want to overstretch ourselves and we don't want to leave London for family/career reasons (DH is also a 4th generation Londoner and would prefer to leave the country if he had to leave London; we have other passports so that is an option). However, the housing crisis is global (including the rental crisis) so I think we should be happy with what we have and try to make a small improvement to what we have (if we can). If it doesn't work out, at least we have what we have... Probably would wait for the market to drop to move..

We currently own a small 2 bed flat in z3 north London.(typical 1930s, 60 sq metres with 1 double bedroom and a second 'small double bedroom') but would like more space long term.

My DH says it's not the number of rooms but the square footage and the size of the rooms. He only likes purpose built flats. I think it's better to have a third bedroom but almost all the third bedrooms are very small.
m.

It will really help me decide on my search criteria. Thank you.

I am not clear on what you need from us. Is it to settle a dispute that three rooms are better than two?

If resale value is important to you, the extra room WILL count, even if the third room is only big enough to fit a cot in it.

How much extra space would you need? Is it worth more to you to have more entertaining and living space, or more bedrooms? Do either of you WFH?

If it's just the two of you and you enjoy entertaining and are unlikely to ever wfh or have kids, then I'd go for a 2 bed with decent space to live.

If either of you WFH it can be good to have the box room to set up as an office, especially if it benefits your mental health to be able to shut the door on work when you're done (it definitely does mine).

If you're likely to start a family then the extra bedroom space would probably be useful.

Do you have kids/work from home? Have you got the links to look at?

I’d rather have a spacious 2 bed. I think length of lease, service charges and access to outside space as well as area will have a bigger impact on how easy it is to resell than the extra bedroom.

Purpose built flats are going to be more expensive over the long term with regard to leasehold charges and that is very offputting for resale.

A ground floor conversion flat with a garden would be more attractive I suppose, depending on the layout

The other issue with choosing a flat via square footage rather than rooms is that you can only do one thing with one room, more rooms gives you more options (unless you're planning to divide up rooms but that might be difficult and require freeholder permission etc)

No i am just trying to decide what is best for us.

Resale value is secondary for us, property isn't an 'investment' for us.

Looking to have only one child. DH WFHs but two days a week.

I mainly agree with him, but actually what matters most is layout. No point in buying a maisonette with higher square footage if half of that is stairs and landing.

I'd focus on minimal wasted space, good storage and well-proportioned rooms that do what you want them to do, for the way you live. A tiny third bed could be great if you need a study to run a small business or want a craft room to keep fabric and yarn etc out of sight of the living area.

we own a purpose built flat and dh is on the residents management committee. I think the service charges are not too bad esp considering the increasing interest rates and the high prices for a similar freehold in London as well as increasing rail costs (if we wanted to move out which we don't). We are also trying to buy in an area where we could do without a car (and we don't have one) so for us, it works.

Appreciate that its not the case for other people but we are buying for ourselves.

Layout & storage potential is the most important

I would definitely go for the 3 bed however small the third bedroom is if you are planning to have a child and your husband WFH. Make the small room a dedicated office- the ability to shut the door makes a huge difference when there's a small child around. I also think the 3 bed will be more saleable for the same reason.

We faced this debate with a house. We opted for the bigger 2 bed (happened to be in a nicer location too, which swung it) We weren't working from home at the time but we did have 2 children (second one arrived after we moved) I had no regrets and the house held it's value really well (well, actually it increased in value), probably due to the location. The house had a lovely flow which made it so much more liveable than the poky 3 beds we looked at. We since bought a 4 bed but I still miss the massive master bedroom we had in our 2 bed.

I've always lived in flats, but not in the UK. I'm not 100 % sure I understand the question, but for me the issue with any home is if it's suitable for the life my family leads. For example, we live in a small three bedroom flat, only 86 square metres. I'd love more sq metres, because that would mean rooms are bigger, but the housing market here is what it is. So we prioritised the amount of bedrooms because we have children and need several, downside is all the rooms are small. It was also important to fit a larger kitchen table and two have two WC:s.

If it was/had been just one child, two bedrooms would have done and we could have had a flat with the same acreage so to speak and bigger rooms.

We did have an option at the time to get flats that were larger but also open plan, and this was not an option for us because the way we live we want a door between kitchen and living room. Sometimes there was only one loo, which is unpractical if you are 4-5 people in a home. (Why they build like that is anyones guess.)

I agree with a PP that layout is so important.

yes agreed. we can't have everything we want in life. We don't want to overstretch and part of that is also staying in the same area so we can maintain our modest fixed costs. Yet there will be a fall in house prices which may or may not present opportunities so if i have to wait to get the optimal flat, then perhaps thats what i have to do. But I need to know what I want.

When i first bought, i was moving from my mother in law's house so all i felt I needed was 2 bedrooms (and in an area with good catchment and in zone 3 for minimal transport costs) in case I couldn't afford to move on. the size of the bedrooms and flat did not matter so much to me as anything was bigger than the bedroom that I lived in with DH (which also had my sister in law's stuff in it and my mother in law's furniture).

Just as an example.

2 bed flat is 86 sq m, 3 bed flat is 89 sq metres so really quite similar in terms of square footage.

Spacious 2 bed but considering whether the general layout and light is also as good or better.

You can section off rooms with screens or something more semi-permanent if you need zones or more wall space but a third small room is all most always going to be poky and awkward to use.

Where would your DH work in the 2 bed?

I don’t disagree that layout is really important but first and foremost sometimes you need to close the door on something e.g. napping toddler or work calls. So in your case I really think you need 3 beds to be future proof- bedroom for you, bedroom for DC and an office for WFH. Office doesn’t need to be a huge so a box room as the 3rd bedroom would be fine.

I think he needs to consider how we would effectively work from home 2 days a week when you are off on maternity leave with a screaming baby. Is he happy having an office set up in the main bedroom so you and the baby can come and go during the daytimes in the rest of the flat?

If you're planning on having kids I'd say go for the 3 bed it's not so much about the size of the room as it is personal space. If you have the average family of about three kids that will mean the one child of the opposite sex will have their own room

I guess reception which is where he currently works now. We are used to that. Our second bedroom has my pets in it but my desk is still there and he doesn't work there either.

If you have bsby he wong be able to work where thd baby is
But he coud hire wework or local space
Look at layout and storage or factor self storage costs

Look at sq m

i guess he could go into the office if its too hard? I mean he goes in three days a week cos thats the minimum, but he mainly WFH because its easier to get new jobs and interview when you are at home!

I know a third bedroom is probably useful but buying a bigger flat so he could WFH and the employer could save on office space (now that there isn't a pandemic) is a bit ridiculous. If that was the only reason. He has always worked for banks and i think he would always have the option of going into the office because a lot of banks like people 'who show presence'.

In the same position as you we chose a 3 bed and have no regrets. If you’re looking at purpose built flats remember that those built in the 30s/ 40s/ 50s/ 60s/70s have much better storage and much more light than more recent builds. A 3 bed flat built in the 70s, say, has enough storage for 3 people too.

Thanks everyone. I think we should go for 3 beds and wait until the perfect one comes around. I think i was tempted to just go for a generous 2 bed flat as there are far more of these than 3 bed flats but i guess you only need to buy one property so its worth waiting for it.