WWYD - lose a bedroom for the sake of a better area?

[ThomasineMay]

My husband and I live in a rubbish area. We have two children aged 2 and not yet 1, one boy and one girl.

We want to move to an area not too far away so still close to family, but that has great schools, great public transport connections, just generally a lot more going on for young people.

There's nowhere nearby that's cheaper than our current area. Three bed houses in the nice area are £100K more than our current three bed house's value. Two bed houses in the nice area seem to go for about the same as our current house's value.

With our current circumstances, we'd not be able to borrow enough to cover the difference to buy a three bed in the nice area. We've looked at the numbers, and we think we should definitely be able to buy a 3 bed in the nice area in about 6-7 years' time.

However, I'd really love to move to the nice area asap so our children can just start school there and not have the upheaval of moving school if we can avoid it. I know moving school is not the end of the world, especially when so young, but I can't help but feel it would be easier to be able to avoid moving school if possible.

I just worry we will regret losing the space, even if it's only for the relatively short term. I don't know how we'd work the bedrooms. I wonder if my husband and I could just sleep on a sofa bed in the living room, and the children could have a bedroom each? I don't know 🤷‍♀️ my two children are massive clingers and both currently sleep in our room, so the two extra bedrooms are currently just where we keep their clothes anyway 🤣 but I assume they will want their own space at some point!!

So, mumsnet, would you buy a the two bed house with a view to moving again into a three bed house in 7 years' time, or would you just wait until you could afford a three bed house?

I would try to buy a house with potential to create that extra bedroom if you get stuck there. So a side extension or loft conversion rather than a planned move. You never know what is on the horizon and where you will be in 5 years and house prices may just run away from you. If you are paying nursery fees now you won't be paying that forever and can put that toward changing the new house to what you want it to be.

Have a look on the local planning, if you look by map you can see the properties marked in a red outline that have applied for planning. See if you can see any 2 beds that have had work done to get ideas of what you can do with a space.

I'd kive to the nicer area. We lived in a less nice area for 10 years for space/budget and honestly, moving to a nice area has been the best thing for us all.
My youngest two (boy and girl) shared until they were 8 & 9, would have shared longer if one older brother hasn't moved out. They are still really close, age 15 and 16.
Space is nice. But, day to day living in a better area trumps it for me.

Better area is definitely the top priority for us, especially if it means better schools.

Are there flats which are cheaper than the 3 bed houses? We're in a 3 bed flat which has got us into the catchment of a fantastic school, we definitely couldn't have afforded a house here but the flat is fine as a step up. We're in London so there are plenty of flats.

Thanks so much everyone. That's a great idea @Wode, I will definitely look at the planning portal later tonight and see what I can find.

@jernenite I've been looking at rightmove for a while now and haven't seen a 3 bed flat come up yet. The occasional 2 bed flat comes up - if we can get one of those it would be even cheaper than the two bed houses, so definitely an option!

Life is short: but moving is expensive. What I wouldnt do is buy thinking "its fine for 5 years".
A 7 year wait in an area you dont like wont be fun, so personally I'd go for the 2 bed option, being prepared for you to take the smallest room and DC to have (eg) a curtain or wardrobes (secured!) as a room divider, but with the intention of it being a long term home.

Better area trumps the rest for me, it’s the thing that would have the biggest impact on my and my family’s life, over and above loss of space. That’s a personal consideration - think about which is more important for you, there’s no right or wrong answer.

I shared with my brother until I was 11, it was fine. They can share a room. In another 7-8 years you may be able to move into a bigger place.
I'd prefer a 2-bed house to a 3-bed flat, myself.

I’d look for a 2 bed you could potentially extend as well. Can you do a loft conversion/extension/garage conversion/move things around internally?Moving is really expensive, ideally wouldn’t want to make too much of a habit of it!
Although doing work is expensive too, if you’ve got the option it would be useful to be able to weigh it up nearer the time.

Move for sure. My kids are 8 and 9 and they still don’t really play in their rooms, they want to be in the family spaces. Their rooms are for storing their clothes, toys and sleeping. So youve got ages till bedrooms become used more.