Newbuild dilemma!

[Thedreamer28]

Hi everyone, I need some help. We are looking to buy a newbuild 4 bedroom property. We have 2 options. The 1st option is a 3 storey with large bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. But the downstairs layout doesn't work well for us. There is no hallway just a small square space. Then you step into the living room which isn't very wide and from the living room you walk into the kitchen which has just enough room for a table and 4 chairs in the middle.
The second option is a 2 storey house with 4 beds, 1 bathroom and the kitchen is more spacious with a proper area for dining and would easy fit a table and 6 chairs. It also has a proper hallway leading to the kitchen and living room which are seperate. The only thing with this house is the bedrooms aren't as big!! 2 decent sized bedrooms and then 2 single size ones.

I have 3 young children and I love the layout of the downstairs in the 2nd option but love the bedroom sizes in the 1st option!!

Now im not sure what is best. My kids come in from school. There are a ton of shoes n coats n school bags etc so I need that hallway. I don't like the idea of them having to traipse through the living room to the kitchen. But then I want them to have decent sized bedrooms to grow up in too. It's so stressful. Il attached images so you can see. Not sure what to compromise on here?

Is storage important to you? The two storey doesn't have any whereas, the three storey does. I also wouldn't underestimate how helpful more than one bathroom is... (Not sure the downstairs layout is great in the 3 storey though)

How old are your kids? Are they old enough to be on a different floor?

Bigger downstairs space every time. You'll be able to build in more storage & it'll be a much nicer space for the family to chill out in. I don't think bedroom sizes matter too much tbh, they'll have privacy and that's the important bit. In the house with smaller downstairs you'll have to move more storage upstairs, so the bedrooms may not be as spacious as you're thinking.

I'd go for bigger downstairs space. How much time do children really spend in bedrooms?

However also think carefully on the new build thing. I'd not buy one again easily. Sold to sell but not for actual living in.

I think the downstairs of the three storey one is too small and an awkward layout.

Definitely the 2 storey for me.

I would want the better layout downstairs and bigger hallway. Bigger Bedroom sizes would not make up for a poor layout downstairs. Not sure about 3 storey house with young children.

2 storey version has just 2 bathrooms which means more space for other things. I think that is better.

2 storey. A bedroom each however small is amazing, as well as a decent downstairs family space. A hall with space for all the shoes/bag crap can be a game changer to making every day life routines so much less stressful. My friends with town houses never bothered going up to their room in the day as the extra flight of stairs was annoying and now have moved to an2 storey and much prefer it.

2 storey, make bed 4 bigger by stealing space out of bed 2.

I had a similar dilemma when we moved into our current home. Although I have 2DC.

My options were better and bigger layout downstairs but 3 smaller rooms, with the 3rd a small single. But this house also had parking outside the house.

Option two, smaller layout downstairs (and no kitchen diner) but 3 double bedrooms (extra floor). The parking is not outside.

In the end went for the three double bedrooms as I wanted the DC to have equal sized rooms.

I don't regret it, but if there was a 3rd option with the kitchen diner, parking outside but slightly smaller but equally sized rooms I'd have taken that.

The DC spend a lot of time in their rooms now there are teenagers and they like and need the space.

2 storey hands down.

Gosh that's tough, both have equally good parts and not so good parts, so it's going to have to be a case of weighing up what's most important to you. Tbh, the two storey doesn't have any ensuites, and only one bathroom... I imagine that could be difficult as the kids get older and everyone wants showers in the morning. BUT it does definitely have better downstairs space, which is important. What about outdoor space? Do they both have similar size gardens? Any room to extend in the future? Put on a front porch to eliminate the hallway issue in the three storey or make the kitchen diner a bit bigger if needed?

To be honest, you could probably nip a bit of space off that biggest bedroom in the two storey to add an ensuite shower room...?

i have a 12yr old DD and a 9yr old DS and then a 4yr old DD and at the moment we live in a 3 bed town house. My kids are deffo needing their own privacy especially my 12 yr old. The big age gap between her and her sister. They have to share a room at the moment and it's driving her mental. When it's bedtime for my youngest, my oldest has to come out while we put her to sleep and then she has to tip toe around in her room. She says she can't relax properly and gets disturbed at night sometimes.

The hallway I feel like I really need coz of the storage that could be put it in there. Ikea hacks n all.

The house has 2 parking spaces outside and a massive garden. We may even put a summerhouse in the garden for extra space so the kids could relax in there as they get older and want friends over.

2 storey

From experience I'd say say that in the 3 storey anyone who goes to wee in that ground floor toilet will be heard by anyone in the kitchen.

Definitely the 2 storey, larger ground floor space, and easier to heat.

Things you have not considered the 2 storey has a single bathroom how long before your DC are teenagers - 5 of you and one bathroom will be awful.

Thanks for everyone's replies. We are first time buyers and this newbuild is within our budget. We have put a early bird deposit down but we still have plenty of time as it hasn't even been built yet and will be built late next year. So if we find a older house we can get our deposit back.
We are really torn as we desperately want to get on the property ladder but at the moment there is nothing decent in our area coming onto the market. So at the moment we will see what happens in the new year and hopefully a house comes up that gives us the downstairs space and upstairs space that we need.

We see houses that are advertised as 4 bedrooms but they are not and the 4th bedroom is literally a study where you can't fit a single bed in even. Or they have a room downstairs added onto the side of the house which they say is a 4th bedroom. We don't feel comfortable leaving one of the kids downstairs.

This newbuild is not far from where we live now and the kids wouldn't need to move schools. This is important as my eldest is in Y7 in secondary and my DS will be in his last year at primary and it wouldn't be fair to uproot him while he does his SATs.

Im finding it stressful looking for a house and I thought looking at houses was supposed to be the fun part of it!

What's the parking situation? That can be incredibly important on new build estates.

I think it's a hard decision. The bathrooms are a factor too.

We moved from a 4 bed 2 storey but with similar layout to the townhouse you're looking at to a 4 bed 2 storey with a layout similar to the 2 storey you're looking at. I was worried we were mad basically swapping one 4 bed to another...but the layout of the new house has changed our lives its so much more practical and really works for family life. Having a proper hallway with kids coming in and out is a dream (yes life is that sad 😬) and also stops functional rooms becoming corridors.

I'd say go with the house for the downstairs layout. You can make the most of the smaller bedrooms and a single bedroom is enough for a child especially with good storage.

Either option though take time to make best use of the spaces. Having good storage in the right places makes the best of any space.

@Thedreamer28

so, you've never lived in a 3 story?

I wouldn't buy a new build, they're still building the out of paper!

id get an older, more solid house.

@PostmansKnock there are 2 spaces outside the house

No one has a crystal ball but house prices may continue to fall and it might be worthwhile keeping an eye on the market to see what else comes up. You could continue to save.

2 storey house with a view to reducing the size of bedroom 2 and making an en-suite and a family bathroom where the current bathroom is.

That's good. Sometimes narrower houses only have one space and then a strip of garden or a path.

I'm leaning towards the two storey but it so I do make such a difference if you could move the wall so bedroom three wasn't so small. I've had a really small box room in a new build before and we bought a smaller bed for dd and she didn't have a wardrobe in there. It was fine and she was in there until she was nine.