One Bedroom / Two Children

Peter333

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

I don't think we will agree on this, I cannot fathom my parent not having a bedroom, it's ridiculous.

Clothes? possible relationships? Privacy? Illness? Pull out bed? Children have no where else to go but their room. If I had a choice of no bedroom or moving every year (most renters don't actually do this) and living in a bigger place, I'd choose the bigger place every time.

I live in a one bed flat at the moment, it's quite a big one but I feel claustrophobic and like I have nowhere to escape to relax or do something different, I cannot imagine doing this with two young children. It would be a bit awkward for them when their friends came round.

Also the "some people have to live like this" argument isn't one here are OP lives in a house she part owns London so is hardly breadline Britain.

I must agree with buzzy, and the others who are against this.

There are far more disadvantage to it than advantages.

Having limited living space can cause untold stress on the whole family. No privacy, nowhere to get away from the noise, hardly any storage space, problems if one of you is sick or injured, it's claustrophobic, there's nowhere to entertain people, nowhere for your daughters friends to go, nowhere for you to go when they are there. Numerous issues.

Homes have gotten smaller and smaller over the years, with no good quality affordable family homes made anymore; just shoe boxes with tiny bedrooms, tiny kitchens, nowhere to put a decent sized family dining table, and little or no storage space. And it's a well documented fact that tiny places are harder to sell on.

If you cannot afford anything else, then I don't know what to suggest, but IMO, a ONE BED PROPERTY for one adult and two children is a dreadful idea.

Also, I can't fathom why you can't afford at least a 2 bed, as you say you earn too much to get social housing.

Brighton_belle

carefullycautious wrote: »

Read this

http://lovingsimpleliving.com/2012/07/minimalist-kids/

If thats what it takes to make your life easier in the interim then go for it. Also look at small apartment living lots of advice on living with less etc

Good luck

Brilliant - that's exactly the sort of blog I had in mind.

HPoirot

I would be looking at a 1 bed flat that had a living room large enough to be partitioned. As for small children sharing, it is perfectly fine.

missbiggles1

Could you buy a BTL flat with your equity (so keeping yourself on the property ladder) and then rent somewhere bigger for your family? Unless you got a really big 1 bed (which you might not be able to afford) I really don't think it's doable except for a short period.

katiechoc_2

Myself, OH and our then almost 2yo son moved from a one bed flat to a 3 bed semi earlier this year. From me being 8months pregnant we slept on a sofa bed so the bedroom was the nursery, until he was 21 months old. It was not fun. Yes, we saved a bundle as we were able to overpay on the mortgage before moving to a cheaper area (which I appreciate is perhaps not possible in your situation), but sofa beds aren't generally made for every day use, and not having any space just for "us" was difficult. Our living room was a living room, bedroom, dining room, play room, office (I work from home)... Sometimes you just want to roll into bed, not faff around making the sofa into a bed, getting the bedding out etc etc.

That is obviously personal opinion, but we had less than two years of it and that was more than enough. I will never take an actual proper bed for granted again! Are you going to be able to move again that soon if you get to breaking point?

Hope you find an answer that works for you!

Tommelise

I believe it could work, lots of people live in smal apartments, but it is very important to look at the layout.

We are 5, DD 16, DD2 13 and DS 7. We live in a very small house. (79 m2) in a nice area with a large garden. The garden make a great difference to our living space from April to October.

We bought the house in 2001 The girls have shared a room until 3 years ago, when we renovated the older part of the house to increase our then 65 m2 to 79 m2. Now our daughters have a room each, and we still share with our son. Our son is very flexible and love to stay at his sisters rooms for stayovers when they are away (– they don’t mind. They love him to bits.)

We hope to be able to extend the house within the next years, but if that fails we would consider buying a new couch for the living room and use that as our bed for a few years until our daughters leave home. My parents did the same for several years in my youth. Now they have a 200 m2 home just to themselves

Do consider what you will do if you find a new love. It would cost you to sell again in just a couple of years. It would also be easier to move the girls now rather than later.

If you decide to go for it, the layout of your new place is very important. Some ideas to look at:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/428053139555070007/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/428053139552405510/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/27584616441204556/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/428053139554752174/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/428053139554711707/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/428053139554354021/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/558164947539524568/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/40602834114948052/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/101331060339096410/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/186406872046336494/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/57350595230282013/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/285767538829509648/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/327918416590240802/

19lottie82

You say you dont want to move your kids from their schools. They are 3 and 5. They will get over it. The older they get the harder for them it will become.

you say you could sell it and move when they will be starting secondary time. One, that will be a lot harder for them then, and two, what happens if the flat is in negative equity or theres another reason which means you can't sell? Two almost teens and a stressed out mum in a 1 bed? Nightmare.

sharnad

Better for the girls to move school you get A bedroom to yourself and live in an area that you can. Afford rather than try to manage in a one bedroom

pickledonionspaceraider

I think the reality of living in a one bed flat with two children will be much different from the romanticised idea put across from some directions.

I understand that there is in some cases, a real desperate need and no other way, but I wouldn't put myself purposefully in that situation

No outside space, no privacy,etc? It will only get worse as girls get older. I know you want to continue owning, but the quality of life would be awful for all

I would be looking at moving their schools. Children are adaptable and better to do it now, whilst they are little, than wait until they are older when a change would be more difficult for all.

chocdonuty

Not sure why people seem so horrified at the thought of a smaller property, after all many people live in caravans/narrowboats ect quite happily, sometimes small and simple is just great
The children are young and will more than likely share for quite a good few years, there are lots of ideas to maximise space and depending on the property space that isn't offically a bedroom could become one.
I saw recently a walk in wardrobe pictured on right move, it had been converted to a childs bedroom too small for a normal bed but had a small bed, room to play and a window!
I'm sure it could work, don't disregard 1 beds as some could be perfect and the money saved could help buy a bigger property somewhere further down the line when its more affordable, good luck!