Committing to the bigger repayments, and the higher running costs of a larger house, means the family is down about \u20ac600 a month in after-tax income compared with what they might have had in the smaller, three-bed property. Discretionary purchases are more debated and holidays are fewer. The spare bedroom is rarely used. <\/p>\n
A decision about whether one of them can ever take parental leave always comes back to the mortgage. They will both be over 65 by the time it\u2019s paid off. Would opting for the smaller home have meant a bigger life?<\/p>\n
All homes are expensive these days, most people count themselves lucky to buy one and will work hard and make sacrifices to pay off the debt. But others will have more latitude about how big to borrow.<\/p>\n
A \u201cproperty-ladder\u201d culture tells us to want bigger, more space and constant upgrades. <\/p>\n
Talk of buying a \u201cfirst home\u201d, a \u201cstarter home\u201d, \u201ctrading up\u201d and borrowing to make your home bigger make the home you have seem like it\u2019s never enough. <\/p>\n
When the expected trajectory is always up, buying, and staying, in a home smaller than you can afford seems a radical act. But this is where small can give you more: lower fixed costs, more disposable income and more room to build wealth \u2013 without feeling stretched. <\/p>\n
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The difficult choices that could dramatically increase housing supply in Dublin<\/p>\n
Alongside an entire canon that makes houses with dedicated boot rooms, pantries, appliance larders, playrooms, guest rooms and bathrooms with double sinks appear normal, there is a growing movement of content creators normalising \u201cnormal\u201d homes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve created my account about small-home living to cut through the relentless noise in society and social media that tells us bigger is better,\u201d says the 31-year-old PhD graduate and charity researcher behind the Ordinaryenough_ Instagram account.<\/p>\n
She and her husband, parents to one child, live in a small two-bed house in Yorkshire and extol the financial power of a smaller home. They could afford a bigger house, she says, but chose not to. She wants to normalise the \u201cforever starter home\u201d.<\/p>\n
The real flex isn\u2019t a big Pinterest-style house or fancy things, she says, but low bills, money left at the end of the month, a home that doesn\u2019t stress you out. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s being able to invest, book a trip, say \u2018yes\u2019 to experiences. It\u2019s building financial freedom over time, creating options for your future and buying back your time one day. And it\u2019s not about feeling the need to impress anyone, or chase external validation, at the expense of your financial security. Because the goal was never just a bigger house, it was a bigger life. It\u2019s living comfortably within your means and building a life you actually enjoy. That\u2019s the real flex.\u201d <\/p>\n
More means less <\/p>\n
\u201cI would caution anyone, you shouldn\u2019t be a slave to a mortgage, you\u2019ve got to live your life,\u201d says mortgage broker Michael Dowling of Irish Mortgage Brokers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t all about working just to pay off your home. You need to live, and you will have other expenses,\u201d says Dowling.<\/p>\n
Take the new homes recently launched in one new housing development in Co Wicklow \u2013 the mix of houses mirrors the options facing buyers across the commuter belt.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a three-bed, three-bath 116sq m semi for sale at \u20ac550,000, while a 168sq m four-bed, three-bath semi is \u20ac665,000. The bigger house means an extra bedroom, but what would this extra \u20ac115,000 mean for your wallet?<\/p>\n