Is it shitty to do this instead of pay school fees?

I’d put the money aside for schooling now instead of getting the bigger house.

a change in circumstances could mean that you are unable to find the spare cash to save for school fees so you should use the inheritance as you know that’s there.

continue saving as you are for now and if you still need additional space in a few years time then look at moving or renovating current home to do it.

"Why can't milennials buy housing?"

On the contrary - Privately educated ppl in my life have a track record of being bellends that I can't think of any other demographic; racial, gender, sexual, class based or religious, achieves with the same consistency

And also the fact that half of private schools are rahh rugby boys not even focused on academics 🤨

Depends - do you plan to have a second child in the future? Would you be able to pay for private school for two?

It’s equally likely to go down in value. If you don’t buy it and simply invest your £150k in the stock market that’s probably going to give you a better financial return.

Don’t underestimate how expensive it is to run a big house. Higher utilities, higher council tax, plus every tradesman you speak to will charge you a “big house tax” - we have a large house and get ridiculous extortionate quotes for any work we want to do.

In fact for one recent piece of work we used the company that had just done that job at my parents’ house, so we knew what they had charged. They then quoted to do the exact same job at our house, and they literally doubled it.

So you may find that you use the inheritance and your current equity on the big house, then can’t save as much as you expect to for the school fees.

Smaller classes - so the perceived academic advantages that dont interest you?

What are the state primaries like round you?
Is there any reason your child will struggle in a state primary?

I mean your child might have a better time in a private school than a state school, and they might have a better time in a 5 bed house than a 4 bed house, but unless your child is disabled in some way such that state schools are likely to be really awful for him, I can't see that either the 5 bed house or the private school are necessary. Both are not needed, but nice to have luxuries, and you can chose whichever you like!

If you're saving £2k a month at the moment is there a reason why you can't do both? Prep/pre prep would be less than £24k so you would still be saving money over the next 7 years to top up your fund for secondary. If you were significantly short at that point you could consider downsizing or taking out a small mortgage.

Anecdotal evidence is pointless on these type of threads. It doesn’t matter how many people write my child went to state/private and it was great/terrible, but all the matters is where YOUR child would be most happy, and what the state/private options are like in YOUR area.

Lots of people saying there’s no point in private primary - well there was for us, as our local state primary was riddled with poor behaviour, large classes, and a very high teacher turnover. But your local state might be brilliant and/or your local private might be terrible. So do your research on the local schools of both where you live & where you want to move to, and think what would fit your child best.

Boiling this down to the essential, the choice you are giving yourself is:

invest in myself (house) v. invest in my child (school)

If you opt for yourself, you will be able to wander from one large room to another and float into your garden working out what your decision tells you about who and what you value.

You can't generalise state v private. Our state school has outstanding results (that's different to being Ofsted outstanding but is that too), made national chess finals and is well funded. The majority of the cohort are middle class kids with invested parents. Same as private school. Our state school as separate teachers for strings, brass and wind instruments. The local private (£35k a year) comes second to our state primary in sports and academic extra curricular (aside from rugby).

Our local state secondary teachers Latin and Classics.

We could afford private but don't need to.

What kind of state schools does the good house have access to?

It’s the grounding in education, manners, homework everything. Small children, as you know, are like sponges, and if shown the right way, they just absorb the lessons.

What, meeting posh people?

I firmly believe that primary private education is more important than senior in many ways. Your child will be taught how to work independently which is SO important. Personally I would stay put and educate your child, there is nothing more important than education. We did this for our two and it has paid dividends. One in America with his own law firm. One here at director level of a charity. And yes I do still think of some of the beautiful homes we could have had.

Is new house catchment for brilliant state schools?⁹

Actually I think both your options are unreasonable.

Private primary isn't needed. Private secondary is definitely a benefit.

You certainly don't need a larger house for 2. The house you have will appreciate in value anyway - in fact more so because you will have less maintenance and upkeep and bills for it, so you'll be able to save more over time.

What your DC would most benefit from is you putting the money in a decent investment, and then bring able to pay for them to have a house deposit and other aspects of an excellent higher education and quality of life in future.

And you would benefit because you'd likely be able to retire earlier as well, which I would think far more beneficial for quality of life than having a new house when you already have plenty of space.

I would not be considering private school for primary level unless the local state options are failing schools.

Whether you save the £150k or buy a larger house is what the decision should be.

I never understand why people say private isn't worth it for junior years. I think smaller class sizes and good study habits being ingrained in these years make a huge difference. And I know of some who only did private for prep school to help with childcare (easier to keep them in school with after-school clubs than organise wraparound) and their children doing well academically at least in their state senior schools.

Are you the poster that writes every few months how your a single parent, you get maintenance, live in a 4 bed house worth 500k and worry how you will pay your mortgage? I know youve said your mortgage free but you sound similar to the poster who pleads poverty in a 500k mortgage house with 1 child and getting £600 a month maintaince.

I don't think it is selfish but I do think it is not a very financially savvy choice.

Why on earth do 1 adult and 1 child need a 5 bed house?