What sq ft is ideal for family of 5?

[ThisSharpNavyRaven]

We are London based so space is hugely expensive, but very lucky and have chosen an area in which we can buy quite a large property. DH and I are slightly at loggerheads as he is insisting on vetoeing anywhere with less than 2000sq ft, whereas I think layout can have a big impact on the 'liveability' of a house.

He'd rather buy somewhere massive where we'd have to do serious renovations (the only way we could afford a huge house in the area). I'd rather buy somewhere smaller if it was perfectly laid out and all done. We saw a 4 bed that's 1800sq ft that I love, with an incredible garden, but he's point blank saying it's too small.

Expecting third child, which is why we are upsizing, and would like to hear opinions about the optimal amount of space for 3 growing kids.
Thanks!

@InTheRainOnATrain we just did our loft for exactly that number. Well, 11 months ago. But agreed, you never know what problems you may encounter once you start work.

@ThisSharpNavyRaven genunely having a massive utility with a heated airer, tumble dryer and pulley airer has been life changing. My washing goes in dirty and comes out clean, dry and folded even in winter (obviously some human interventions are required). Just imagine how much space 3 sets of school uniform plus sports kit takes to dry- genuinely all my dryers are always full.

To me based on your last post you would definitely need to do the loft and pretty soon. Your kids might be happy to share for that long but I know lots of people where they aren’t- either because one was neurodiverse, one had sleep issues etc. And, again, living with 2 kids who would rather not be sharing a room is not fun at all. Also TBH I would very much doubt that you’d get a loft conversion for £50k at the moment- I think most are coming in quite a bit more than that (unless your DH is a builder etc). And the loft conversion would be a hassle to live through. I’d be going to look at the one with it already done and/ or budgeting for having to get it done within the next 3-5 years if you do decide to go for the other house.

(BTW it might be worth getting someone in to look at the loft in the smaller house- in most lofts in London you can get 2 decent sized kids rooms- then one day you can combine them if/ when the kids finally leave!).

Id also be a bit concerned, from lived experience, about only 1 loo on the first floor of the smaller house- sounds like an absolute recipe for morning rows!

@Heronwatcher thank you again! I think visiting the house with the loft done is a definite. Want to see what those lofts look like, because I think they're not allowed to use quite a lot of the space up there due to conservation issues. Whereas in our small Victorian terrace with no planning issues we were able to get a huge bedroom and a decent office.

Oh and the other thing- looking at friends who are a stage on from me- so many of them based in London/ SE have adult children who have either studied at uni from home or moved back home for periods once they have left- one had 3 20 somethings all back at home for over a year!

Obviously that’s looking quite a bit ahead in your case but just something to bear in mind (the outside studio might be a godsend!). In fact, could you do an airbnb in the studio and fund the renovations of the 3000 footer (or do it up a bit and live there yourselves whilst you renovate the big house!!).

Given the costs of moving especially stamp duty I would go as large as possible to avoid moving again

I'd go for the 3000 square feet doer upper. That's a lot more space to play with.

We just have 2 kids and sold a 1800 one and in process of buying 2800ft one
(5/6 bedrooms). Also London so stamp is a bit ouch! We both work loads from home so both want offices, then kids get a floor too. I think it’s personal, we’re all v messy and have to work at organisation and frankly the wfh thing is a big deal - so much easier to have boundaries with a clear work space. For me, 3 kids - 3000 way more appealing if you can afford it

Wow! I'm amazed at the square footage so many of you have. We're a family of 5 in a 900 sq ft home - we are moving soon for some more space but we've lived here very happily.

@ellyo I know, I don't want to seem ungrateful at all! It's more a dilemma of the huge renovation project or the finished 1800sq ft one. We'd obviously be absolutely fine in a smaller place if necessary

I think you should only do the renovation if you are really up for it. It will 100% take over your life. Make sure you are very realistic about costs too - they are eye watering these days.

Oh I didn't mean that at all - I don't feel it's wrong for people to talk about their square footage, I just assumed most people lived in a house our size! 😂

We have 2 of us in an Edwardian semi 1600 sq ft. 3 bed - all good doubles plus a converted garage (office). I have lived in a 1280 town house that was great and a 2200 house that wasn't so great- itsall about layout and individual room sizes in my opinion-

@ThisSharpNavyRaven can I ask for your loft people! That’s a great price.

I think layout is important & width is really underrated. My house is smaller than I would like but we have a drive and good sized garden which means more storage. Most importantly the high street & transport links are minutes away. We could get a bigger house just a little further out but I like amenities on my doorstep.

I think you need a sq ft somewhere between the two or take your time perfecting the bigger house if you can afford it

We bought a 4 bed about 2000sqft with 2 DC and DSD . One of the bedrooms is a small single and currently used as a gaming room . DSD has grown up and left home . DS 1 and 2 are huge long limbed teenagers who get in the way in the kitchen and hog the bathrooms ( there are 3) We also now need to wfh .We would like to extend . When they were 5/7/13 it was perfect .

We are a family of 4 in a house with 1850sq ft living space + beautiful fully boarded attic + single garage and a nice large garden. Both adults wfh 3 or 4 days a week.

We are finding as our eldest is a teen, it’s bedroom space we need. She wants that separate private area to study and chat to friends and relax.

We use our home office (downstairs) as a guest bedroom (rarely have family to stay so we make them put up with a sofa bed).

I think overall I would definitely want the ability to have more bedroom space in your shoes.

3000 sq ft would be fabulous, although it is a lot of vacuuming…

We’ve had over a dozen different homes. Layout and storage space are what matters. Our previous house was 2500 but not well designed, while a house we’d owned before that which was 1300 and laid out well felt basically the same size if not better. Is this the last DC? Two and three fit into almost any size house but once we had four and then five we built a 4000sqft house and we use it all!

We have 1800 with three kids in London. Tiny garden, but close to a common. It’s tight now they are tweens but manageable and I love my area so we are hanging in there. We will have to give up the office soon so they can all have their own room which will be needed through teens. We had hoped the boys could share but they are not good enough friends to make that doable. We will have to work in our bedroom and in the open plan living area. But when they are secondary they won’t be home til 5pm at the earlier.

the other factor is we have a second home elsewhere and spend 6-7 weeks there. Year which takes the sting out of the space issue. Smaller house but more outside space. That is what makes it work for us as we escape the London grind every 6 weksy

Thanks for sharing your experiences! We chickened out on the huge project - there were multiple offers and with all the work we'd have to do on it we couldn't afford a bidding war.
We've decided to offer on a bit of a compromise - 2100sq ft in need of redecorating and new kitchen and bathroom, rather than fully restructuring like the big house we saw. Fingers crossed we get it as it's a really great house!