Edwardian semi or 1930s detached?

[decafearlgrey]

Namechanged.

A house has come up that ticks many boxes for us:

Garage
Detached
Quiet street
Offroad parking
Wide entrance hall

Cons are:

It would need some structural work (knocking down walls) & new kitchen
The third bedroom is very small
Only one bathroom

We are currently in an Edwardian semi with arguably more character & renovated to a high spec, 3 large bedrooms, downstairs WC. Busy-ish road, issues with parking & neighbour noise.

The price we could get for ours is approx £30k less than the detached is on for. We would not have available funds for any large scale renovating.

Am I mad to consider giving up our beautiful home for a garage/detached?

Any advice much appreciated!

Two questions! Do you have children? And does the house have scope for extending, further down the line, either into the loft or out the back? Have other houses in the street extended?

oops that was three questions!

Thanks @limepip just the one child and will always be one. There is scope to extend into the roof and out the back, yes. Other houses on the street have extended.

I don't think I would. You don't have the funds for renovation or extension. Keep looking.

We made exactly that move and never regretted it. The lack of parking was a daily stress. I still appreciate my off street parking now every single time I pull in. But we did have the budget to gradually renovate the 1930s house.

I think you will miss the high-spec living. I wouldn't do it!

I'd stay where you are to be honest. I speak both from the POV of someone who thinks your house sounds better and also as someone who is spitting distance from exchanging on a new house and am so stressed over everyone throwing their teddies out of the pram (EA, solicitors, vendors, buyers) that I'd like to tell them all where to shove it. I won't, but I'd like to!

Your own drive is worth its weight in gold. Any parking issues where you live now will only get worse and there are practical issues when we move over to electric cars. I'm not a particularly noisy person but being in a house that isn't attached to another is fabulous.

As someone else said, have a look at what other similar houses in the street have done re extending. At least you know what you can aim for when you have the funds. If you've made one house beautiful you can do the same with another.

Having lived in very characterful, much older buildings, I am now a big fan of 30s houses. You usually get decent sized rooms, high ceilings, plenty of light, etc.

Thankyou everyone, lots of food for thought here!

Detached everytime for me, especially as you mentioned neighbour noise. I'd never spend more money on a house where I already had neighbour issues.

If you don’t have the means to pay for the extension or works I’d say no to this one
and second the poster who says to keep looking.

These kind of properties are projects for those that have the money in place/ developers or those working in the trades.

I probably wouldn't if you don't have the money to do the renovations you think are necessary. If you're likely to have the money later, then you're also likely to have the money to buy a more expensive house later. So if you're reasonably happy where you are (apart from the annoyances mentioned), there's no need to rush to move somewhere that's not quite right now. If you're not likely to have extra money later, then this isn't the house for you because you think work is needed that you won't be able to do.

Thanks for further messages everyone! Really helping me. We will stay put and only move when we have the funds to renovate the next place, otherwise I will be miserable! My husband could put up with it but I know I couldn't. The annoyances in our current home are bearable compared to living in a place that would frustrate me as I couldn't do it up straight away. Now I just need to stop being tempted by Rightmove 😂

We are in 60s house with garage, large driveway and detached. I'd say detached makes a lot of difference especially with kids. But we had to do a lot of renovation, and the only way I could enjoy the house was to do what is needed. If there is no prospect to do it quickly, you may be frustrated. We are still on busyish road though, so it's not perfect. I'd wait until you are ready to move. Any chance of offering much lower and funding the renovations that way? We didn't do any structural work yet but we will extend into garage. We did everything else though.

@Lemonbalm8 love a 60s house! I think we will wait until we are able to do the necessary renovations to the next place. I know I'll feel frustrated if we can't get going soon after we move in. But yes detached is the dream!