When buying a house and land package, it can be difficult trying to decide whether to stretch your budget to buy the largest house you can afford, or opt for the “small is beautiful” mantra.

We ask ourselves…. Does size really matter as much as what the designer can create with the space?

This topic regularly sees experts divided, however with a larger range of affordable smaller lot sizes in Sydney available these days, such as at Menangle Park, more people are opting for smaller homes.

With smaller homes, home builders and designers have to be more precise in what they do throughout the design process, they get into the situation where every square metre counts. This means that they spend more time evaluating how people move around a dwelling, circulation and what they do with furniture.

Another plus of smaller homes, is that they tend to use less energy in heating and cooling, and demand fewer hours be spent on housework, maintenance and gardening, meaning family members spend more time together. There can also be more emphasis on the flexibility of different spaces and adaptability of rooms.

Bigger houses may have more options though, such as a rumpus room, a music room, a pool room or a home theatre, and you may have more space between furniture, however you may not actually need that with some of the clever floor plans available these days.

In addition, it’s important to evaluate the position you are after before deciding on size. For example, sometimes first home buyers choose to buy smaller houses in the best position they can afford: north-facing are popular as they tend to be full of light, warmth and airy.

Apart from that, selection is often predicated on the size of your family, lifestyle, the stage of life you are at and, of course, budget.

Another important thing to consider is the flexibility of the home. Can it expand or contract in relation to how much space is needed if your older children stay at home longer, or your parents come to live with you?

The location of the home and the quality of the masterplan may also influence the decision whether to buy large or small, with proximity to open recreational spaces and communal amenities for instance, meaning a purchaser may be happier with a smaller block.

Menangle Park for example will be an amenity infused masterplan community with its own town centre and vast recreational spaces, so a smaller block might be ideal, especially if you like to be out and about.

Another interesting trend is that younger buyers have been noted to be choosing to save money on the size of their house in order to spend it on a larger block ie. they are compromising the size of the house they’re buying for a larger block because they want a bigger garden or yard to play ball with the kids.

All in all, affordability, sustainability, ease of maintenance and lower energy bills are all increasingly important to all home buyers and there is definitely a growing trend for people to live in smaller spaces, focusing more on quality than size.

At the end of the day, when weighing up all options, it really comes down to what is going to be the most accommodating to you and your families needs for a happy new home.

Lots at Menangle Park start at 420sqm.

Click here to find out more about our Master Plan and to register your interest.