Help choosing between two houses – space vs location

[StillWatching]

We’re a family of 4 with two children aged 8 and 12 and stuck between two houses.

House 1: townhouse in a great location, walking distance to school and near a park. Upstairs works well, but the ground floor is one long rectangular open-plan space (we’d open the kitchen) and feels tight – I’ve added the floorplan. Garden is ok but no garage, so we’d need sheds for storage and a small workshop for our 12yo (a must-have), which reduces garden space. No driveway, but two off-street parking spaces. The walk home includes a brief stretch with no traffic or houses, which makes me think about darker evenings, although it’s a very residential area and I’m sure it’s well used; the alternative route is through the park, which I’m also not keen on.

House 2: 4-bed semi with bigger downstairs space, its own driveway, a big garden and a garage. Downsides are a 15-minute drive for school/work (plus parking), our 12yo would go to school by bus, and it’s on a busy A road which you can hear.

Basically location and convenience vs space and comfort.

I’d be wanting the townhouse.

two sitting rooms, 3 double bedrooms sounds great and 2 bathroom is ideal

walking to school is less hassle, plus you have two parking spots

why not walk through the park at 6pm next week and see how it is

This

You would need to shift the existing doorway into the exiting kitchen / new TV room to the RHS to accommodate a loo.

Ok so… house 2 has now disappeared from the listing and the second viewing was cancelled, which I guess sorts that one out. I’m not actually feeling that upset about it, which probably says it wasn’t quite right for us anyway.

So now it’s really a case of whether we wait and see if anything else comes up, or go ahead with the townhouse and make the best use of the space we have. I can definitely see the potential there, especially given how well the upstairs works.

Out of interest, if we did decide to get some professional help to maximise the layout and storage, what am I looking at in terms of fees for an interior designer or architect? I’m thinking more practical help with layout rather than anything fancy.

Thanks again everyone — really appreciate all the advice so far.

I personally don’t think you need anything so complicated - as basically you are not extending extensively and it’s only one floor / 2 rooms. If you went with the bolt on utility/loo - a builder could arrange that. But I would look to getting laundry upstairs and putting a loo in hallway near front door - saves extending and IMHO both of those facilities are in a better place practically than in the extension.

What do you think works for you on yhe ground floor from the suggestions made already? What is your wish list and important specifically to how your family - wants and needs etc?

A high street kitchen designer would do that as part of the deal.

What I’m thinking at the moment is closing off where the kitchen door is. I could either put a bench in the hall or a fridge, but if I put a bench, the kitchen will feel even smaller.

I’m leaning toward open-plan to make the space feel bigger, but part of me wishes I could have double doors between the kitchen and the dining/living room instead, so I could close them to contain cooking smells and noise when needed.

The extension wouldn’t start from the kitchen, as the boundary wall begins in the middle, so it wouldn’t really help make the kitchen bigger.

Another idea I’ve been considering is creating a small laundry out of the WC, since we already have two ensuites and a family bathroom, so it wouldn’t impact the main bathrooms.

I’m wondering if I’m trying to make something impossible

Given the position on the family bathroom upstairs (for access to drainage), would you not be better to do as a PP suggested and have the front room as a snug and the back as a big family kitchen diner? No need for structural work then.

If the kitchen units are fairly new you could reuse the carcasses with new doors.

Or if you are set on a new kitchen moving it means you can keep your old one until it's complete which makes life much easier.

Live in it before you make any big decisions.

All of your ideas sound very do-able to me. I’d start with a good local builder- they will normally have someone who can draw up plans and advise whether you need building regs.

I think the plans shouldn’t cost that much- I had complex plans drawn up for around £1000 a few years ago.

Right… a slight change of plan! A house we initially liked but couldn’t make an offer on has come back on the market. We made an offer and it’s been accepted, which we’re really happy about as it ticks pretty much all our boxes.

The only thing we’re struggling with is the small kitchen and hallway, so I’ve started another post to see if anyone has ideas for improving the layout. 🙂

Thanks again everyone for all your input so far

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5496502-help-reconfiguring-ground-floor-layout-small-kitchen-hallway

Edited because I didn’t read far enough!

Townhouse 100%. Particularly with the age of your kids - I’d turn the upstairs extra room into a kids lounge and they can come back after school to hang out. Independence for getting back and forth to school is so great for kids and that house is manageable with the upstairs as you explained.

Neither.
That downstairs looks like you’ll be on top of each other.
I would keep looking- you need to rule out ones that aren’t ideal before rather than just going.

if you haven’t- make a list of must haves/ preferred/ what you will compromise on.
When we were looking we needed a drive for 2 cars and that was a must have, but then it was preferred side by side drive but we did compromise on the one car in front of other drive we currently have as there is space to expand in the future.