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 I love smaller houses. It might become an issue when your DC grow up and they want more space, but that’s not going to be a problem for a while.

The problem we'd have with that as a family is that there's no space whatever for ongoing hobbies. I like having a small corner of the house per child where they can have their own little desk, keep their stuff out and get into things like Lego/art/drawing without having to pack it all away for every mealtime because it's on the kitchen table. I'm not sure how I'd keep my toddler away from the older child's projects in a space like that without having the older child siloed upstairs in a bedroom.

There’s 3 bedrooms

For those ages - it will be fine. We managed in a 3 bed with an open plan living area like that up until the combination of DH starting to wfh and eldest becoming a teen meant we really needed more space.

Do you have 2 sharing a tiny box room? Or three in a double room?

OP we have almost the exact same house size, ours isn’t open plan downstairs, with one child (not having more) and sometimes debate is it big enough for long term…

I think it's the open plan layout downstairs that means the smaller square footage is more of an issue. I wouldn't like such an open layout as your children grow as having separate spaces is quite nice if you are doing homework with one child at the kitchen table the others can be playing or watching TV in the lounge and not dosturb you.

Open plan also means you lose wall space for storage in both rooms, for example the gap where you access the lounge into the kitchen you could put a big kallax unit there full of toys if that was a wall. The same size house but with a hallway from which a separate lounge and kitchen diner open off worked well for our first family home and I think would be better longer term if you end up staying longer than you might hope to.

That's really small - my 2 bed apartment is 810sqft and they aren't big rooms

I think the master bedroom had a built in wardrobe?

It's 3 bed so 2 in double and 1 in single.

OP I think if you can get a shed in the garden that would solve a lot of storage problems too. Rotate toys and keep them stored out the way. Also means you don't have 3 children tipping them all out at the same time 😂

I think having 3 loos/bathrooms will be really handy with 3 young children!

This

New builds really are crap aren’t they - THREE toilets yet no storage?!

That's almost the exact layout of my house, also a new build, and there are five of us.

We have three bedrooms, my sons (7 and 9) share a room and have bunk beds and my daughter (4) has her own very very small room.

I don't mind it! It's a LOT smaller than the houses of my kids friends, but they go to school in quite a well-to-do area, but it's fine for us and we have a fairly small mortgage comparatively.

I do feel like we could do with 4 bedrooms as the kids get older but the living space is fine and honestly, we might never be able to afford to move the rate things are going.

I think you need to consider storage - have you noticed two of the bedrooms don’t have cupboards in them? Is there a linen cupboard? Where would kids toys go?

I live in a 900sq ft house, so similar size. But only have two kids. Since moving here I really have to stay on top of toys and clothes. I have found that most things I had before I wasn't really using and didn't miss. However staying on top of getting rid of things is not easy, I'm constantly on Facebook marketplace and taking things to charity shops. You will need to be organised :)

I should add - we have a decent garden in that size of house so have THREE sheds! We also got the loft floored so can use that.

I've actually found as my kids get older their space needs change - my nine year old likes Lego and drawing but doesn't have any of those massive plastic toys you get when they are young.

Definitely not IMO. Where will they play??

my two younger ones still sleep with us and my eldest always ends up bringing her mattress into our room😅

…. for now though. 3 teens in that house would be very claustrophobic imo.

(Edit to add context - we had 3 kids in a 3 bed (2 doubles and a box), and we extended to add 2 more single bedrooms and more living space downstairs. Our lives run SO much better. I spend hardly any time tidying, decluttering now, everything runs smoother - cooking, playing, bedtime, family meals. It’s so much more harmonious because there is space for everything and space to see what is redundant and you can get rid of and you don’t have Lego all over the living room because it stays in the playroom or bedroom. Obviously very privileged to have that but honestly space is top of the list when looking at houses imo.)

It's fine, 2 of your DC will have to share a room but that's not the end of the world.
You will need good storage solutions for toys

Absolutely don’t think it’s big enough sorry.

The third “bedroom” is absolutely tiny and with it all being open plan you will all be on top of each other. I live in a house of a similar size (although different layout) with just my DH and we have already agreed it feels too small for starting a family and we need to upsize in the next few years.

I am one of three and having your own space is really important, even more so if they have to share bedrooms. I’d be looking for something with an extra reception room (maybe a classic extended Victorian terrace), or at least where it is not all open plan.

You haven’t said why you are moving though. Obviously your children will not be living in slum conditions so if it’s your only option it will be basically fine but not ideal by any stretch

All those bedrooms are tiny.

You could manage in a house that small if you have to but it wouldn't be ideal. There's very little room for storage- e.g no bookcase space in the living room, no fireplace or mantlepiece or even a shelf to display birthday cards etc.

The main bedroom looks ok- but the two smaller rooms don't even look as if they would fit a wardrobe in- you will have two children sharing one of these rooms- where will put their clothes and toys and where will they play?

Where will you store your towels, toiletries, bedding?

No way is that big enough. Storage will be an issue for everyday stuff but also the stuff you'd usually put in the attic. With new builds they tell you not to put anything in the attic, I think it's because if something structurally goes wrong, it invalidates the guarantee. We lived in a new build slightly bigger with 1 child and it was too small. The storage we needed took up so much space.

Absolutely fine and a similar size to the cottage we had when our four kids were small. We were very happy there. We had more storage space but no downstairs loo

No sorry I think that's too small (and not a great set up) for a family of 5.

You might just about get away with it whilst the kids are small but you would have to be extremely minimalist! But 10 years down the line with a 15, 13 and 11 year old?!

Having said that, I'm not a fan of open plan full stop. I want to be locked away in the kitchen cooking with a glass of wine and my music on. Not listening to / watching WW3 breaking out in front of me or listening to video games / Youtube videos. Also, whatever you cook, you have to sit in the smell of all night whilst you're watching TV!

But it’s a bit irrelevant if more space would be ideal? If this is what you can afford and gets you out of rentals, then great, I think you can definitely make it work?

I thought the same! The space where the downstairs toilet is would be ideal for bikes, buggies, kids toys, the hoover....

I also find it really bizarre when there is a toilet the second you walk in the front door. My friend's new build is the same and the amount of times I've turned up only for her DH to be walking out of the loo after a massive shit 😂

Depends how minimalist you can be. My sister lives in an identical layout new build (2 adults and 2 children) and the lack of storage space and tiny bedrooms was an immediate problem. They had to buy those outdoor storage crates which took up most of the space in their equally dinky garden.