Unhappy in house, sell after 1.5 years?

[WiltedBlossom]

Hi all,
New here but have been reading various posts. Just wondering what your thoughts are on selling a house that you just can't seem to feel happy in?

We've been here for a year and a half, and it's just not bright enough for me, I constantly find myself craving more light and sun. The house feels boxed in by the tall houses opposite and out back, which cast large shadows especially at this time of year, and the small living room window can't be enlarged due to zoning regulations, so a lot of the time it feels like living in a box.

The area is highly sought after so I think we'd be able to sell quite fast. Only thing is that we might never be able to buy again - there's basically nothing on the market, and what is out there is either no better, or totally unaffordable. So we'd be back to renting.

Not a single day passes where I don't think about getting out of here, I don't want to continue like this. I was happy in our bright rental flat before and felt at home there, and I'm hoping that I can feel at home again somewhere else.

Thanks for your thoughts or advice!

Thanks, yes, we've been working with an architect but may need to revise our plans a little.

Thanks for sharing, that's interesting to hear, what do you think most made you like your house in the end, was it the artwork and personal touches? And how did you deal with staying there all those years while you weren't so keen on it?

Strategically placed mirrors reflect light
window reveals painted white is another ( in case you have something different)

What are these ‘zoning regulations’ that prevent you enlarging a window

Do you mean it’s listed or a conservation area
or
is it the front window you are referring to.

I’m an Architect and haven’t heard of other restrictions

Have you got space to put a sofa in your kitchen dining room? We practically live in the kitchen. Lovely and sunny and have a sofa in there.
Front room is north facing and dark. Cold in the winter and have to have the light on in the day. HOWEVER it’s bliss in the summer as it’s so cool from the lack of sunlight!!

Thanks for being so honest!
Yes, there really is no guarantee we'd ever be able to buy again as it really is slim pickings here unfortunately.
The area is honestly great, I really can't complain about the location.

The rest of the house is generally fine and useable, thanks, it is mostly this dull living room at the front which gets me down (and the fact that the neighbours' houses block out a lot of light and sun to the ground floor overall).
I've also considered putting the living area at the back instead (it's the kitchen and dining area at the mo). I would be more certain about doing so if it wasn't north facing at the back, I just feel it might still be a bit dark because of that! I could do a trial run though and stick the couch there for a few days to see how it feels...
I use the loft during the day but my family doesn't really, perhaps if there was also a TV up there it might help! You never know.

Ah, you've got me there - to be perfectly honest I still miss our old rental. It would have been perfect - apart from the little fact of it not belonging to us. Just feels quite bitter that you get attached to somewhere which you know can only ever really be temporary. I just couldn't imagine being able to afford that rent further down that line, I remember speaking with a friend whose mortgage was less than a third of what we were paying in rent and that kind of sealed it for me that we needed to find somewhere to buy...

Thanks, I'll try my best!!

I've also seen products online which you can place on your windowsill and they reflect light better into the room, don't think they would make a massive difference though. I don't think I'd paint the windowsills as they are still an original feature, they're quite light coloured anyway to be fair. Thanks.

Can you invest in an interior designed to give some ideas on maximising light and making the rooms feel cozy and less box like. Might be costly but would certainly be cheaper than moving and going back to renting!

Thanks, sorry, I didn't use the right term, it's a conservation area. We had someone from the council come and look round the house and she said that they wouldn't accept any changes to the front as they want to retain original features as much as possible, and keep the houses in each row looking as similar as possible. I suppose though at least it means we shouldn't end up with a huge block of flats opposite or something like that...

I wouldn’t give up the security of your own home to rent again if you think you can’t buy again soon, I did this and with life events, divorce, children etc it took me nearly 15 years to get back on the ladder with a small home. I think you’d regret it. Stick it out and wait until your property increases in value and you’ll have more choice on the market to choose from.

Not really I'm afraid, it's pretty small. That's also the north-facing side (although it has the bigger windows).

We might take another look with the architect and get some additional ideas, thanks.

Yes, I think this is what could easily happen - it took us a decade (!) of looking on and off to find this place, which obviously isn't perfect but it's in the right area.
I'm just not sure I want to wait several years and not be happy here in the meantime, that's all. Let's see. Thanks.

I assumed you meant the front and a conservation area. That makes sense.

Do you have plans and the location of shadows and the North point

Mumsnetters love drawings and you never know someone might even crack the problem 😁

Thanks. I've dug out the ground floor plan and roughly sketched in the orientation, it's not pure North-South, more like NNE-SSW.
There is a chimney in the middle of the house which, if we stay, will be the first thing to come out. Measurements are all in metres.

There are rather tall houses directly in front, and just one single (large) house right at the end of our small garden in the back, but there's a nice and open view over several gardens with mature trees due North, which would be the first thing you see when you come in the room but at present the view is blocked by the chimney!

Thanks for any ideas!

Our friends put a glass panel in the wall between their living room and kitchen as the light came through. It is full length and about a metre ish wide. Makes all the difference to their dark front room.

Thank you! We were thinking of removing the little slanted wall between the entrance area and living room, as this is the darkest part of the room, and putting in a glass partition or similar instead to let the light though from the front door.

The little section of wall remaining between the living room and kitchen in our case is load bearing, so I suppose it would need a big steel girder or something put in if we want to take that and the chimney out.

Q. Is this an old building ?

re the chimney
You'll need to get Conservation area consent if you intend to remove the stack externally

Have you asked the conservation officer if you can increase the extent of glazing at the rear. This would be a clear and simple solution
( Tbh there already seems to be a high glass/solid ratio I’m surprised it’s dark) .

Q. Are the ceiling heights low?

Your best elevation is the front in terms of light obviously

Can the return wall of the entrance door to the right of your front window be painted a very light near white colour
This would reflect more light into your front window and is a very cheap solution

Acceptable conservation colours will be on your local planning website. ( If there are none painted locally you won’t be allowed )
It’s all about harmony and cohesion

Same goes for your rear garden boundary structures. If you hav any

Light colours reflect light. Dark colours absorb light

So if you have a fence or wall paint it a light colour so it bounces as much light as possible back into the house.

Removing the chimney will improve the views but is an expensive idea if you are doing it to gain a lot of light.

Your room is too deep to pick up a lot of light front to back unless your windows are 5 metres high.

Im guessing your room is 2.2/2.4 high as standard.

Thanks for your reply!
It's almost 100 years old but has had a fair bit done to it over the years.

Yes, we've been told that we need to leave the little external part of the chimney stack where it is, but that we can remove the internal stack. It's a big job though over four floors (cellar through to attic...)

We're actually in the process of applying for planning permission to increase the glazing at the rear and basically do one huge sliding door right across to the far edge of the current kitchen window. The window in the kitchen is currently just a normal window over the countertop, the one in the dining area is a sliding door. So this would go along with renovating the kitchen.

The kitchen and dining area themselves aren't dark, it's just that the light doesn't reach through fully into the living room.

Ceiling height is 2.5 metres.

Ah, yes, good idea, I don't think there's any reason why we can't paint that wall at the side of the living room window white. It's actually an insulated metal shell (for some bizarre reason, the previous owner tore down the original brick walls of the entrance...)
At the moment it's light grey but I'm sure we could find a lighter, more reflective paint. Thanks!

Thankfully there are no fences or walls getting in the way at the rear, the house is slightly elevated off ground level. We have a raised patio which is cladded in aluminium, so that also reflects some light in.

We still need to get a quote for removing the chimney. It's just generally in the way, to be honest, you end up squeezing round it all the time and it blocks the line of sight (and light) between the entrance, dining area and garden on the one axis, and on the other axis between the living area and kitchen.

Yes, unfortunately our windows aren't 5 m tall! - now that would be the dream...!

Thanks for all your suggestions!

It depends where you spend most of your time that is to say if it is the living area it would be better to put where the most light is, move the kitchen to the front