Do you think this house would be big enough for a family of 5?

[Lilacbluewaters]

We are currently renting and looking to move, the rental market is so hard right now and we have been turned down by so many but we may be in with a chance with this property. My only concern was, is it too small? The downstairs is all open plan. I have three children aged 5, 3 and 10 months but my two younger ones still sleep with us and my eldest always ends up bringing her mattress into our room😅
my husband thinks it’s fine but I’m thinking where are we putting everything? 😂
this isn’t the exact house but it is the layout (show home)

I think it’s fine but then I prefer a smaller house - less cleaning! You’ll need to be efficient about decluttering and teaching your kids to tidy their toys away etc, but it’s big enough for at least a few years. Hopefully by then the rental market would be a bit calmer and you could find something bigger.

We lived in a similar size until the kids were 7 and 5, by then with play dates etc we did want a bit more room.

It's a similar size to my house but I only have two kids (although dp and I both regularly wfh) Two can presumably share the second double room in the future ?

I'm not keen on the living room being a corridor effectively & there is definitely a lack of storage. I think I would be more inclined to look at an older house which will likely get more space for the same ££.

We live in a fairly small house, but have high ceilings and lots of storage space.
My concern here would be where is there space for storage? Where could you fit toy storage or side tables in the lounge? Where would a wardrobe/desk fit in any of the bedrooms? Personally I don't think it's big enough, but of course lots of people can make do - but if you have a choice I wouldn't!

Absolutely big enough. You'll adapt. Two children share and one in the box room when their old enough to want tonhave their own rooms!

If it's financially viable.fpr you and your family, do it.

I have 3X children I a 3 bed and it works really well :)

I think if you could fit floor to ceiling enormous cupboards into the empty corner of the kitchen and then get clever pull out drawers/shoe racks in the understairs section then you could do it. It has everything you need, it’s just really compact! Would it have decent attic storage can you tell?

I think it looks good for a family of 5. There’s space for you to all eat at the table together, watch a movie together on the sofa, a double room for you and DH, another double for the younger 2 to share and a single for the eldest to have to themselves, a downstairs loo and an en suite so no bathroom queues. All the basics ticked. No there’s not masses of storages so you’ll have to do toy rotation and have regular clear outs but if you’re on it then it’ll be fine. The only issue is maybe your family’s sleeping arrangements as the master doesn’t look big enough to fit all of you as you can bet on that floorplan showing a double bed and there’s only just enough space to walk around it so a super king + a single mattress on the floor or whatever you have now is unlikely to fit. IDK how wedded you are to that though, or how long it is likely to continue for. And there are 2 other bedrooms so maybe you could split yourselves to continue with the cosleeping. If it’s that important to you to find a way then you’ll figure it out!

It would be too small for us, personally.

A perfect size for your family

Only while the children are young.

Downstairs looks tiny. The bedroom situation looks ok but is there much storage. I imagine with three young children you have a lot of stuff and downstairs being just one room effectively, it could get pretty cluttered/cramped

That house is bigger than mine and I have 4dc aged between 15 and 7, we manage just fine.

There's no wardrobes in any of the bedrooms. Or shelves or chest of drawers...
And where will child 3 sleep?

Is there room for a wardrobe in the second bedroom? Maybe if there are bunk beds in there, but it may be a while before yours are old enough for bunks?

It is 854 sq foot which is pretty tiny. I understand it if you have no choice but have you seen larger properties for similar money

Sometimes you just need the right house for the next couple/few years. You can move again when you DC are teenagers and want their own rooms. Hopefully, you will paid off a bit of mortgage and your house price might have gone up a bit to cover the moving costs etc. Lots of people move just before secondary school, not least because location can make a big difference then and it's not possible to tell now what you want/need from secondary schools/location now. I would make sure this house is in a good location for primary school, that the new development is sound (not on a flood plain etc.), that the roads will adopted by the council, because the house looks ok for 3 primary school aged kids.

That would be too small for us. That is smaller than our 3 bed and we have only 1 child and are looking to move to a bigger property.

So there is one under stairs cupboard downstairs and a double wardrobe upstairs and that's it for storage? Well, it wouldn't be enough for my family. Only you know how much 'stuff' you have. Is there a loft? Can you put a large shed in the garden? Is there a garage?

Too small for us as a family of 4, but bigger than our first owned home when they were your kids' ages. Your children are still young enough you could upsize before they're teens when you'll value more space (if you wanted to of course, you may not feel the need).

Is it the most you can afford ? Is there parking for 4/5 cars ? Will you be there long?

We lived on a new estate for a while and no one expect us had parking but has small families . I'd rather buy an older house with room to extend and a driveway

I have 3DC and its far too small for us. I value space and also having at least 2 separate rooms downstairs (ie lounge and separate kitchen/diner). I would really struggle with a completely open plan downstairs.

Can you look at older houses? Even a bog standard 1930s 3 bed semi would have more space than the house youve linked too.

I think it's too small but if you need to move (why?) then it would do for a year or two while you look for something else, assuming it's better than where you are now

I don't think I could cope with it due to the living room being a corridor which will make it feel smaller than it is, and that the bedroom is miniscule, really only an office rather than a bedroom. I don't know why the builder wasted space on an ensuite instead of configuring bigger bedrooms.

It’s 854sq ft. That doesn’t feel big enough for 3 kids; to me. We’ve got slightly more, about 150 sq ft more with one toddler and we’re seriously considering if we need to reluctantly need to move.

We don’t even have kids and that wouldn’t be big enough for DH and me! It looks like there is barely any storage or space to fit it.

Rental with three children aged 5, 3 and 10 months - I think it's fine those ages,

Older ages you may want or need more space - we did but those ages think it will be fine.