Large House

[Lazyi]

Hello. We moved out of London a year ago, and are living in rented accommodation in the South West, where I am from. Our plan was that we would be able to have a bigger house than we had in London and a smaller mortgage. We have sold our London house and have money in the bank. I have always lived in a “normal” terraced house, either three bed or four bed. We are now looking at some houses that are large… up to 4,000 sft, and with multiple reception rooms and up to six bedrooms and large gardens. My partner is enthusiastic about this. I’m worried that it will mean non stop cleaning and gardening. People have said that it’s possible for houses/gardens to be low maintenance, but I am nervous that we (I) will need to spend all my time tidying, cleaning and pruning. We have three young kids. Because I have never lived in a large house, I don’t really know what to think. My partner seems to be seeing all the benefits (room for stuff, spare rooms, lovely lawn) and I seem to be seeing all the downsides. Advice and thoughts really welcome. I also realise we are in a very lucky possition to be able to have a choice like this. Thanks all

Ours isn't a big house, but it's bigger than our previous one, in which we were seriously squashed as two of the 3 of us work from home and make things (so not just an office each) and I have masses of books.
It's actually easier to clean as there is space to move in it.......mark you, I'm not a fussy housekeeper. e.g., if I can write or draw in the dust, I dust. And we're gradually changing carpets to hard wood floors, at least, except the upstairs.

5 bed detached. Two receptions, very large kitchen.

It's about 2750 square metres. To be honest I can't imagine wanting anything bigger. It's manageable for us to run and maintain. Underfloor heating costs offset by log burner. The biggest headache is the garden, which has a massive lawn and a very long fence round the border. I don't even want to think about how much that's going to cost when we have to replace it. Also, the house is painted white. That's going to be a huge expense eventually. Fortunately everything else is in good nick.

However, we LOVE it.

The best thing is we can have a load of guests and not be falling over one another.

I love our detached house, we are a busy noisy family (animals, piano, son refurbs cars) so I cant imagine living in a neat terrace or estate, neighbours would hate us.
Also, now living in the country is for us a different way of life, my younger self would say the house is dirty and messy! With teenagers (and their friends that have to come over, as there arent local amenities), animals, countryside walks etc our house is certainly not the sort of house we had in our 30s. But, we have room for DH to work from home, we have a spare bedroom and bathroom for guests that now cant just pop in. We have wood and flagstones downstairs, a boot room, laundry, utility room, large pantry (for monthly shops as supermarkets arent close by) the house fits our lives.
But we did compromise, I would have loved a period property, but knowing the expense and frequency of maintenance, we brought a cheaper, more standard house and added a biomass boiler and solar panels.
So, as far as any compromise with your DH, make sure the house works for the way you will live your life in the country. Also consider if the additional money would be better spent on private school, childrens' hobbies and welly boots!!

Ours is a big house but it's bottom heavy as we don't need many bedrooms.

We use all the downstairs rooms, two sitting rooms, study, dining room, kitchen and, here is the bonus, massive walk in larder and huge utility room for all the coats, boots, wellies. We have a second fridge and freezer in there as well as the washing machine and dryer, mops, brooms, cleaning stuff stored in cupboards, medicine cabinet, etc. It even has a ceiling drying rack on a pulley. These are probably the most useful rooms for storage, laundry, etc.

The bedrooms are all doubles with built in wardrobes so good sizes but not too much. Look for what suits your needs now and, if intending to stay long term, future needs. We plan to turn second sitting room into a bedroom if/when we are too old to manage stairs. We also have a bathroom with shower downstairs as well as up for the same reason.

If you have the funds, my priorities would be off road parking with a garage or store for bikes, garden equipment, bbq/camping stuff etc.

Detached houses can be very remote or just a few meters away from neighbours so again, it's whatever is your preference.

I would say if you don't need six bedrooms, don't buy six bedrooms. It's wasted space. There is so much variety out there so try to keep focus on how you live your life now and and how you will live in the house you choose.

A friend sold a flat in London and bought an enormous house in Yorkshire. Said it was great at Christmas but too big the rest of the year - and they’d just got carried away by what they could get for their money. Later on it was also hard to sell.

I was talking about 2m+ houses that arent new builds. Ime they can cost 10-30k a year to keep running

The running costs on a 4000 sq ft detached will be eye watering vs a 3 bed terrace

Our semi which is 2,200 sq ft costs about £1200 in bills (that’s literally everything though) per month.
For our family of 4 the space is ample, very candidly, I could do with one extra roomBUT that’s only we have 2 wfh offices and I’d like a home gym…

bare in mind everything will be more expensive… home insurance, council tax, water rates etc….
then there is maintenance (gutters, patios, roof repairs) our house is 3-5k pa

imo 2,500-3000 is the most you need for a family of 4 and that gives really spacious living.

A lot has been said already.
Other hidden costs off the top of my head.
Our house insurance [to rebuild not contents] premium has rocketed due to rebuild costs in the industry. The rebuild costs are now estimated at more than buying the house on an acre of land within 5 years.
Our council tax is £4k pa and by all accounts Labour are going to relax the cap on rises.
Stuff - at scale. Our family bathroom in London was the same size as our new downstairs loo. So tiling the floor was just as expensive.
Plants the same - you don't need a few packets of bulbs, you need dozens.
Garden equipment. A battery operated hedge trimmer won't cut it. Everything will be public park level and cost.

Sheer time. It is relentless trying to maintain it all yourself and if you both work full time you will need help to keep on top of a large garden. So that's 5 hrs min a week at £15 an hour.

Your compromise should be that the house has good storage, a good EPC and very low running costs - with solar would be ideal. If not, do not get more bedrooms that are vast , it just costs masses to heat.
You need minimal en suites and if more than 1 extra loo above 1 up 1 down 1 en suite, then they are NOT to be used, to save cleaning - my friend has locked off 2 spare room ensuites, as the kids were just randomly using the extra loos if their usual was occupied. Also insist that one bedroom is NOT used as a surplus dumping ground but is retained as spare bedroom for guests.

My boyfriend wants a big house but I don’t for the reasons you list, amongst others. Our compromise is a smaller <150 sq m) house with some outbuildings so we can have a workshop, artist studio, garage etc without having to heat or clean them. It’s proving pretty hard to find, though. We did find the perfect one but pulled out due to flood risk.