Stuck on the first rung.

Estie

Hi
Since the birth of our son 2 years ago our house seems to be shrinking. When we bought it 6 years ago we were just getting married and the fact that it was "cosy" seemed quite romantic. The problem is that now we have reached a stage when we can hardly move with out tripping over toys, or books or the potty, and every inch of storage space is full to bursting. There is no way we can afford to increase our mortgage and were looking at something like a shared ownership scheme, but these seem to be just for first time buyers. Does anyone know of any schemes like this which are open to people who already have a house, but have out grown it? The only other option seems to be to sell up and rent a larger house, but we really don't want to do that.

teabelly

If you need more space can you do a loft conversion or an extension on your existing house? If you need more space then the only other alternative is to move to a cheaper area where you'll get more house for your money. Or if you can find a bigger place but one that needs work. Ones with hideous interiors are good to go for if the basics are there eg double glazing and central heating. If you can ignore swirly carpets and nasty decor then you can pick up a bargain as a lot of old fashioned looking houses are ignored by buyers who just want to move in and do nothing.

If you have 2 bedrooms then you probably won't be classed a being in need of a bigger house by anyone that would do such a scheme. It might be time to get ruthless and chuck out anything you don't really, really need. Also look at inventive storage solutions eg drawers in stairs and make use of every available inch.

It also sounds like a good time to start teaching your son about tidying his stuff away too :-)

You could get permission to rent yours out from your lender and move into rented. This way you'd keep the asset but have the space you need. If you find a bargain house then you can always sell your current one.

chriz1000

I would say if you have enough money to do an extension then do that, however if you can’t afford to move this probably isn’t an option.

Good advice from teabelly, be as ruthless as possible and give away/sell anything you don’t use. Try and free up as much space as possible by doing this.
Pick up some of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ikea-hanging-storage-ideal-for-toys-toy-storage_W0QQitemZ270211203865QQihZ017QQcategoryZ43505QQcmdZViewItem and hang them in your child’s room for the toys. It will make things seem a lot less cluttered.
If things still feel small, perhaps repainting the living room a lighter colour, putting up some mirrors/extra lighting and getting rid of any cumbersome furniture will give you the feeling its bigger?

Poppycat

I was in same position although we lived in our 1st house for 17 years, we moved last Feb because the girls wanted there only bedroom they were 12 and 15 at the time. I didnt think we could borrow much money even though we have never defaulted or have bad debt at least we shouldnt always pay our debts, but we managed to borrow more and had decent deposit and can afford to payments that we went for it. We are more happier now despite having larger bills bigger house.

We couldn't increase our other house so this was the only option, we also choose a very quiet street compared with our old location

My advice to to explore all avenues, extension, moving etc, granted it may be more difficult to get more money in recent months

You could explore Housing Association we were accepted for the key worker type house even though we arent a key worker, you buy a hosue on the market and the lender and government own 50% 25% each, when house increases in value they get there payback

neverdespairgirl

We have a two year old as well, and the amount of stuff a toddler generates is incredible!

We had a mammoth clear-out in January. We got rid, ruthlessly, of everything we could think of. Clothes OH and I hadn't worn recently, stuff our son had grown out of, books we didn't want to read again, half-used and ancient bottles of shampoo, etc.

Could you try this first?

Rabiddog_2

Have you ever thought that your House may actually be shrinking? Measure the room sizes! Lay off the mushrooms!

explore all avenues,

:rotfl:

Estie

Thanks for the advice, but we already have every inch of possible storage space utilised and have a fairly ruthless clear out every other month. Our house is terraced and has a low roof so extending or converting the loft aren't viable options. To give you an idea of our space (or lack of), we have had to hunt for smaller than standard versions of just about all the furniture we own. We even had to take a new wardrobe back to Ikea as even though it fitted in the room, once it was in there was not enough space to open the doors. The sliding door version of the wardrobe was too wide to fit, so we've had to go with childsized.
Poppycat can I ask where to find info about the keyworker houses, as my husband is a key worker, we just thought this was a scheme for London only.

princessflea

Look into the affordable housing scheme with your local council. It isn't just for first time buyers, you basically just have to be able to show that you have ties to the area (family/job etc) and that you can't afford a property of the size you need.
You pay a percentage of the house's market value (usually 75% or 80%) and the local council subsidises the rest. There is no rent to pay and the house belongs to you 100% it just means that you can only sell it for 75% or 80% of its market value when you come to sell.
It only applies to certain houses that are on the councils list.

ginger_nuts

your problems seem to have started when you had a child .
Have you thought off selling the child ,:eek:

before_hollywood

teabelly wrote: »

Ones with hideous interiors are good to go for if the basics are there eg double glazing and central heating. If you can ignore swirly carpets and nasty decor then you can pick up a bargain as a lot of old fashioned looking houses are ignored by buyers who just want to move in and do nothing.

if its all cosmetic you can pick up a bargain, its when electrics and stuff are knackered you have a problem on your hands, chances are you would want to paint it all and change the carpets anyway, i am trying to get my first house and everyone i have seen pics for even £20k above my price range has nasty decor and swirly carpets lol, i was hoping i was missing the retro chic trend and it was all high fashion again

leftieM

I know exactly how you feel OP. We bought our house and I naively thought that, as it had 4 bedrooms, we'd be here for a lifetime. Unfortunately the 4 bedrooms are crammed into 1000 square feet and since we had our second child and I decided to leave work, the walls have been closing in. This is more of an issue in winter so, if it's any consolation, if you have a garden you will feel the space pressure ease as the weather gets warmer. Children love being outside.
We've decided to sell and rent to get more space. We're getting a house that's 1.5 times the size of our current home, has a garage, a bigger garden and is £100 more a month to rent than our current mortgage etc. costs. It would be 250k more to buy. Of course we're running the risk of having a dodgy landlord and having to move more often. Hopefully that won't be the case.