Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Would children downstairs and parents upstairs put you off buying a property?

51 replies

RestingWanderer · 15/04/2026 13:30

Hello. We are in the process of buying a house and have found a beautiful chalet bungalow on a quiet road which ticks a lot of boxes for us. The main downside is that the master bedroom is upstairs, but the other smaller bedrooms are downstairs. We've discussed this as a family, and have got comfortable with the fact that we would be sleeping upstairs whilst our two children (8 and 10) sleep in the downstairs rooms. This will be fine for us, HOWEVER, we are now a bit concerned that this might cause problems for us when it comes time to sell - Even though we have made peace with this, i can imagine that this might put a lot of people off and they might not even want to view, if they know that the family couldn't all sleep on the same floor.

My question for the forum is whether this configuration is likely to put you off of purchasing (or even viewing) a forever house?

OP posts:
Whatthefork1 · 15/04/2026 15:07

It would 100% put me off, but my children are 4 and 1.5 . If they were older then it wouldn’t bother me and actually think it could be a good set up, but not for anyone with young children.

C152 · 15/04/2026 15:08

Yes, it would put me off.

Manthide · 15/04/2026 15:48

Dd2 had a similar situation with the master bedroom upstairs and 2 more bedrooms downstairs next to the front door- it was a bit topsy turvey as the kitchen and lounge were upstairs. They had dgs in the downstairs bedroom from when he was about 9 months old but I knew I couldn't have done that and it would have put me off. They have now moved but are still on a different floor from their dc. The 2 children's bedrooms are on the top floor and they are on the middle floor. There are 2 more rooms on the top floor but one is small and the other is the guest bedroom. Again they could all sleep on the middle floor but dd2 has a good sized study and an upstairs 'lounge'. I think they will be fine if they choose to sell as the ground floor is also large. Their set up now would probably be fine if dc were older.

FoxandDuck · 15/04/2026 16:16

It put us off when the DC were little but it was slightly different, I think, as there were two bedrooms upstairs and two down and we couldn’t decide whether we’d have one child on the same floor as us or both of them (a girl & a boy) sharing a room on the same floor as us. The option of having them both on a different floor to us and a spare room on the same floor as us just felt wrong! I think that, if there had just been one room upstairs, it might have been easier to decide.

BuildbyNumbere · 15/04/2026 16:26

I wouldn’t like it … we set the alarm at night downstairs which wouldn’t work with people sleeping down there. Also, how will kids have windows open on hot nights?!?

BuildbyNumbere · 15/04/2026 16:28

MiaKulper · 15/04/2026 14:06

Think of it as a bungalow with only one floor. Would it appeal to someone buying a bungalow?

Where I am from, bungalows are very much in demand and cost more than a house with the same number of bedrooms.

Yes but in a bungalow you are in the same floor as the kids.

rainbowunicorn · 15/04/2026 16:30

We had this when children were little age 1 an 4 right up to teens as did most of our neighbours. It was fine.

Walkerzoo · 15/04/2026 16:33

Could you put the living upstairs and all sleep downstairs?
But not for me. Done it with kids on different levels and never ever again

TheCommonWoMan · 15/04/2026 16:49

We bought one like this. Children were a similar age and it didn't put us off unduly.

BobbieTables · 15/04/2026 16:51

That would be a bonus for me honestly and more and more so as the kids go through their teens

Sgreenpy · 15/04/2026 16:58

My son has slept on a different floor from us since he was born! We're in the attic and he's on the first floor. Admittedly our house is tall and thin (4 floors in total). He's 19 now, never had an issue.

We do have a room thats used as an occasional bedroom on the ground floor (sofa bed in the snug) and no one has ever commented on being 'downstairs' to sleep even for a week or so (we have a shower room on the ground floor too).

I guess in this scenario the children would be on the ground floor, and you might not feel safe with having windows open at night etc.
If the house works for you in every other respect then id buy it for you and your family to live in.

Jellybunny98 · 15/04/2026 17:02

I wouldn’t even view a house which would have my kids on a floor below me, the thought that if someone managed to get in they would get to the kids first is a complete no for me.

Rozendantz · 15/04/2026 17:07

Sgreenpy · 15/04/2026 16:58

My son has slept on a different floor from us since he was born! We're in the attic and he's on the first floor. Admittedly our house is tall and thin (4 floors in total). He's 19 now, never had an issue.

We do have a room thats used as an occasional bedroom on the ground floor (sofa bed in the snug) and no one has ever commented on being 'downstairs' to sleep even for a week or so (we have a shower room on the ground floor too).

I guess in this scenario the children would be on the ground floor, and you might not feel safe with having windows open at night etc.
If the house works for you in every other respect then id buy it for you and your family to live in.

Same here, my DS has always slept on a floor below us (had his own en suite too), it worked really well.

So no, your house wouldn't put me off at all.

EffervescenceSmallUmbrella · 15/04/2026 17:09

It wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. We’ve had houses with loft bedrooms and basement bedrooms when the children were small.
The worst thing that happened was a pigeon got in through the velux window!

RattlingTin · 15/04/2026 17:19

OP I think it depends on the local demographic. Many older people would appreciate having some ground floor bedrooms.
I am about to sell my dad’s house and it’s similar to yours - a bungalow with downstairs bedrooms and an attic master suite. It’s in a popular area with a lot of older/well off people where there is a shortage of bungalows, so I’m reasonably confident about selling it. I’m not expecting to sell it to a family as there are more suitable family homes available. I think it more likely that a couple in their 60s/70s will buy it, thinking ahead to their future care/health needs (which is what my parents did).

Nomura · 15/04/2026 17:41

I wouldnt buy it.

Eclipser · 15/04/2026 17:45

It would put me off.

Wincher · 15/04/2026 17:45

Our house has kids’ rooms two floors away from our room - but we only recently moved here and ours are teens. We figure it will be great especially as they get older, if they are still here into adulthood. But it wouldn’t have worked for us when they were younger and it could affect resale. But this is planned to be our forever house and it works for us so who cares!

stichguru · 15/04/2026 17:46

Unless you think you won't be in it for long, I wouldn't worry. Yes, that layout would put some families off, but you never know who will buy what. We are in a 4 bed with one child, a study and a spare room. You might get a childless couple who love it. You might get a family with older children who want it. I wouldn't worry.

KeeleyJ · 15/04/2026 17:49

Sounds perfect for me with no kids left at home, it will appeal to downsizers and elderly people assuming there is a downstairs bathroom?

I wouldn't have chosen that with kids still at home though, you'll be creeping round all evening trying not to disturb them.

user765847363 · 15/04/2026 17:50

BuildbyNumbere · 15/04/2026 16:26

I wouldn’t like it … we set the alarm at night downstairs which wouldn’t work with people sleeping down there. Also, how will kids have windows open on hot nights?!?

Those issues are surmountable.

Our guest rooms are on the ground floor and our alarm has a setting for that. We have a programmed that allows specified windows to be open (we use the locks that keep them from being raised more than six inches and also have a/c in the bedrooms) and people to move around on the ground floor.

It wouldn't bother me if the DCs were over 8, OP. If the house works for you, I think you can assume it will work for others going forward, even though the pool of potential buyers might be slightly reduced.

Justploddingonandon · 15/04/2026 18:17

In our area bedrooms on different floors are very common as it’s mostly townhouses with loft conversions /new builds built up rather than out, I was fine with this but I never really liked sleeping on the ground floor myself so wouldn’t want my kids to.

Owninterpreter · 15/04/2026 18:28

It would have put me off as I had to get up to my 8 year old a lot in the night until he was about 12. Id also worry about him getting out the window/front door without me hearing.

Nogimachi · 15/04/2026 18:59

If the house is right for you, it will be right for someone else. Don’t worry about what happens when you sell. That might not be for 20 years and you’ll have had 20 years of family fun and memories by then.

FreedomForties · 15/04/2026 20:44

Yes, it has put us off in the past, we didnt buy an otherwise lovely house for this very reason! I was uncomfortable with children being on ground floor and us upstairs. Not just because you're further away if they need you but if anyone broke in, children's bedrooms were most accessible.