Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Double spend on mortgage, dream house vs. Smaller mortgage with more spending money?

32 replies

Sunnydays888 · 25/01/2025 13:37

Posting for traffic. I’m interested to know what people generally think is ‘stretching’ too far when it comes to mortgages and house purchases. We have just put our house on the market as really keen to move to a bigger house, out of town/semi rural but the two houses we are interested in would essentially be double what we pay now, per month.

This isn’t a humble brag, I know we are in a privileged position but I’d like a bit of perspective from those in a similar circumstance. Take home of ~£9k per month between us, 1 DC in full time nursery, currently paying about £1,600 a month on mortgage. Houses we are looking at would be around £3k - £3.5k per month mortgage payments. A big jump, obviously.

We could afford it, but I know we would need to be more careful about spending (obviously bills would be higher and we have things like commuting costs, some finance we are paying off etc.)

Question is, I suppose, what’s the maximum you’d pay on a mortgage a month in proportion to your salary before you’d feel over stretched?

And what do you prioritise, big, spacious house in ideal location but less able to be frivolous with money (which we probably are at the moment) or stay in smaller house for longer (until more of mortgage paid off or pay rise) with more scope for spending, holidays etc but feel dissatisfied with the house?

OP posts:
Growlybear83 · 25/01/2025 13:58

We bought a bigger house with the intention of staying there for many years. It was a long time ago, when the mortgage rate peaked briefly at 18% the day after we exchanged contracts on our new house. we thought it couldn't possibly go any higher than that and our mortgage was around 70% or our joint net pay. It was a struggle for some time because interest rates stayed high but it was worth it to get the house thst we wanted, and doing that enabled us to move to our current house ten years later.

SparklingSpa · 25/01/2025 13:52

I’d go for the house, your salaries are likely to increase and childcare will decrease.
I can’t see why you can’t have the big house and holidays etc?
I did the leap a couple of times, I thought of the house as an asset as well as a home and was mindful downsizing is always an option if needed.

Whatisgoingoff2024 · 25/01/2025 13:48

We went for the bigger house a few years ago for the purpose of starting a family. The house felt huge for a long time as our fertility journey didn’t go exactly to plan. In that time mortgage rates increased and we eventually fell pregnant.

Our little boy is 18 months now and I’m back at work part time. Yes there is a big part of me that wish we’d of stayed in the smaller house a bit longer but neither of us knew how long it was going to take to bring our little one home.

I would say we are living comfortably, we never go with out and holiday twice a year. I guess we are just more careful now of the unnecessary spends. I’m really hoping our mortgage rates come down again in June as this will obviously release an extra chunk of cash. But granted it might not happen either! We are both able to save a percentage of our wage (for emergencies) and send our son to nursery 2 days per week. We are getting married later this year so the majority of spare spends is going towards that.

We both love our family home. It feels so full and honestly I wonder how we would have ever of managed without the space! I’m proud of what we have achieved and love nothing more than coming home.

Original poster
Sunnydays888 · 25/01/2025 13:48

Lampan · 25/01/2025 13:43

I don’t think anyone can answer this without know the details of your lifestyle and spending commitments etc.
Surely anyone buying a house will do a detailed look at expenses anyway, which you must have done.

If you’re certain you can afford it, including in unexpected circumstances such as illness or redundancy, then surely it’s just a question of what your priorities are. I don’t think what anyone else’s priorities are should really come into it.

Of course, apologies I should have made clearer I’m more just looking for experiences where others have made this leap or not, rather than actual affordability!

OP posts:
Whyherewego · 25/01/2025 13:47

You've got good income between you but how stable are the jobs ? What level of savings do you have ? Personally I've gone for the option of paying off mortgage earlier and having more cushion in my finances so if something happened tomorrow and I couldn't work, I'd be ok and would manage.
If you have demanding jobs, bear in mind that DC expenses go up from nursery! School is a headache, I had to have a nanny to do pick up and tea time as well as cover school hols. If you go private then that's a huge cost too for school or if you don't would you be wanting tutors, extra curricular activities ? Do you want another DC?
Basically don't base it on your current income and expenditure but fast forward a few years and do the maths

BillyNoProblems · 25/01/2025 13:47

Redundancy can happen at any time. For me, I would make sure we could pay the mortgage and living costs if one of us lost our income

Lampan · 25/01/2025 13:43

I don’t think anyone can answer this without know the details of your lifestyle and spending commitments etc.
Surely anyone buying a house will do a detailed look at expenses anyway, which you must have done.

If you’re certain you can afford it, including in unexpected circumstances such as illness or redundancy, then surely it’s just a question of what your priorities are. I don’t think what anyone else’s priorities are should really come into it.