Houses too big for a person's needs.

At Christmas, Easter and several other times a year every one of our 4 bedrooms are occupied by son and family and daughter. At other times they are slept in by friends, and other visiting relatives. None of whom live close to us so need to stay over.

My parents retired to a 2 bedroomed bungalow and soon regretted it. Our children soon grew to big to share our bedroom and in adolescence, with a son and a daughter even them sharing a room was problematic. When my mother took up a creative craft that required table space, drying space and space to store materials the problems grew worse, In their early 80s they thought seriously about moving to a larger property but a sale fell through so they stayed put.

Of course some people do live in small properties and have no choice but to make glib remarks about houses 'that are too big and under occupied' just on a head count and room count is to seriously fail to understand the complexity of peoples lives, their interests, and family arrangements.

OH YES, a bathroom , shower room and two toilets , well three if you count the saniflo downstairs .

I was too busy eating the brown shrimps I got from Waitrose {reduced I might add] so that made them all the nicer

Hope you have a bathroom or two as well, Nonu!

Pardon , miscounted , 5 bedrooms !

No way on Gods sweet earth am I going to change .

Why on earth should I ??

Our house is just right for us also,

Dining Room , Drawing room, Parlour , 4 bedrooms and basement of two rooms for me and "HIM + kitchen of course.

My house is just right for my needs: my bedroom, computer room, toy room and a room for visitors all upstairs. Downstairs the TV room, the book room and the kitchen and dining room. Could notbe offering my homeless brother refuge if I had a smaller place so he would be added to the statistics. I am helping the government by having a house with more bedrooms than I actually sleep in.

I suppose I could down size to a studio..........but where would my friends from GN and my sister stay when they come to visit me?

Our 4 bedroomed house is the house a couple with a bigger house would down-size to so we are keeping it!

phoenix, I think he pops up with the intention of annoying Frank, but it has been noticed that the two have similar posting styles.
I have not noticed him posting on other people's threads.

Thank you Frank , that's exactly what I was asking. Are his threads always like this, and does he ever post on threads started by others?

Just curious!

phoenix

If you mean Bentley he has started a few threads and has come back to a few some time later.
May be he has not got internet facilities at home.
I am only guessing.

Frank

My brother and sis in law moved in with her parents twelve years ago as the 'olds' were finding a large five bedroomed house difficult to cope with and didn't want to sell up as it was used as a base for their large family. Last year the father passed away and rather than stay in the house without him, the mother has bought herself a flat in an assisted living complex.

My brother and sis in law are now scratching their heads over how they're going to afford to be unpaid hotel keepers for the rest of the family even though they adore the house and don't want to leave it.
They can't sell up as they don't own the whole house.

Be careful what you wish for.

This "person" seems to have joined when I was away, can anyone tell me if he does ever come back to thread?

Spot on, Gally!

Same here Gally I'm not moving

Gally, hope this numpty post did not upset you...he is just stirring.

I've got a big house. It's my home, it's where our children were brought up, I have lived in it for 32 years and its full of memories and just because I am on my own now I have no intention of leaving it until I want to. It's paid for, I don't owe anyone anything, I don't take Government handouts and nobody, especially BarmyBently is going to tell me what to do with what is mine.

Does he ever come back, or does he just start a thread and then retire?

This was discussed at length on another thread, and most people agreed that just because a person lives alone it does not mean that they don't need a spare bedroom. Many older people have family to stay, and not all of them could afford hotel bills. Occasionally, they may need some care at home. If a couple has more than one bedroom, they may need to sleep apart for various reasons, such as snoring or 'restless legs'.
A home is more than a house - people often have treasured memories and will have invested much more than money in their home.
Even people in social housing!

Actually, I only said 'what if' my house was soooo big. I didn't say it is . Though, luckily as one isn't working, we do have more loos than people. And I can't reach my windows [that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it]

Years ago I was acquainted with a man in his 20's who had a 3 bedroom semi and he lived to the west of London.
He was married and sadly his wife who was about the same age passed away.
I can remember people did ask him what he was going to do with the house and he said he was going to keep it as it had been paid for using the life assurance money.
A few years later he was married for a second time to a widowed lady about the same age and they lived in that house for a time and purchased a larger one when they had children.
If he had been forced to sell as house prices were going up fast at that time and he probably would not have been able to afford to buy a similar house at the time of the marriage.
Nobody can predict the future and just because a person is on his / her own now does not mean this will always be the case.

Frank

Same here Movelot. I've got to clean the windows and I've just counted, 36... good job there is no longer a window tax!

It is actually not worth that much, up in the boonies, very old (1585) and surrounded by farms... and lots of amazing countryside. No posh kitchen, no fancy bathrooms, or fancy anything for that matter- but loads of space, a nice garden and some land. Bliss.

The sale wouldn't get us much in Surrey - yes Switzerland can be very good value if you choose carefully.wink.

Obviously the heat is getting too much for you Gerry No-one is getting me out of my house until I am good and ready, and like Kittylester says no-one could afford to buy it!

Me too granjura even though we have more loos than people!