DP and I are saving up to buy our first home. DP's mum is kindly giving my DP money once she moves this summer so theoretically we should be able to buy this year, however our incomes are still fairly low (both self employed, tax returns small but earning more now). It's estimated that we could probably get a mortgage of £100k, and we'll have a £20k deposit. So not much in the area we want to buy in and certainly not big enough as it would likely get us a small two bedroom house, or a flat with no garden, and we both WFH so need office space, plus we have dogs who need a garden and we want to have DC in the next couple of years.
We talked about holding off until next year as our tax returns for 22-23 will be hugely beneficial - we both have steady self employed income now and could likely get a £160k mortgage, which with the deposit would get us what we need. However, I'm getting more and more worried as we approach a possible recession - our rent is already fairly expensive, our bills have gone up, we live in a pricey part of the country... our move involves going somewhere that is cheaper, and our house payments would be lower too.
Do we push through with buying this year even though it won't be 100% suitable for our needs? Or do we risk it and wait? Could do with some wise advice! Thank you.