The kitchen is quite small really, enough space for culinery activity for one, but not really much for anything else. We have a front garden of grass and trees and a back patio area which would be good for BBQs.

Rent was £6 more expensive per month than mortgage at current interest rates. However, if you add insurance and other necessaries into the mix, this is costing me an additional £67 a month when compared to renting. It's worth it though.

Yep the lack of flexibility is one of the reasons why I rented for so long - as you say, you could always rent your house out though.

Haven't really had a housewarming, just random people staying over. You should come up sometime ^^