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Original poster

Should we stay or go… bigger house vs. Smaller mortgage

28 replies

Princesselsa1 · 22/05/2022 12:11

We are a family of 5 living in a 3 bed terraced house.

pros:
-huge living room
-good size bedrooms
-scope for extension on front
-scope for loft (neighbours created 2 bedrooms and a bathroom)
-lovely quiet neighbours
-conservatory where we put our dining room/play room
-good area, close to good schools

cons:
-no drive
-small garden
-thin kitchen
-currently only one bathroom/loo
-my girls share a room

I think about moving a lot but what we can afford, is it much better? New builds are so expensive and you still get the small garden. Older houses… we still seem to be stuck with 3 beds and generally smaller living rooms.

is it really worth spending extra for something pretty similar or a little bit better?

for context we owe about £170k on our mortgage and our house is possibly around £330k now. We are in our 40s and this is our first house. The houses I think are worth moving for are around £500k (big garden, drive, 4 beds) but I will say they don’t come up often and they get snapped up. New builds in this area… are silly money… 4bed ones are around £700k.

A bit of me wonders if we should stay put, pay the mortgage off quicker and enjoy being mortgage free a bit sooner. Maybe do a loft extension.

Our kids are primary school aged.

What would you do?

OP posts:
Thistlelass · 22/05/2022 23:53

I would stay and improve the house to closer to your needs/desires. It is surprising how quickly families grow up, go to University, get married etc. All of those events need money. Plus the lower the mortgage borrowing the earlier you can hopefully repay. Then you can maybe enjoy your lives in the way you would wish.

Lovinglife45 · 23/05/2022 00:24

I would advise moving if you can comfortably afford it. Not if you have to live rigidly for the remainder of your dcs' childhood.

Our pros are similar to yours, however without the benefit of:
Huge living room
Good size bedrooms - only our bedroom can fit a double bed, second is a single room and the last a box room (I hate that I cannot provide my dc with adequate personal space)

Our cons:
Small garden
One small bathroom

Like you, a decent sized house would set us back at least £600k - larger three bed with two reception rooms, extra bathroom.

We would require £700k+ for a 4 bed house.

We cannot afford to add £100k to the mortgage, let alone double it even if we pulled back in every area and lived on beans and toast.

With the dc growing, attending clubs taking more interest in clothes, going out with friends, we need enough disposable income. At present, we can transfer £20 at a whim if dc decides to meet a friend for a film and ice-cream. We can pay for school trips and service an unexpected bill though it means our savings rarely build up.

balalake · 23/05/2022 07:35

Do the loft extension. Being mortgage free once it comes is a lovely thing.

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CharSiu · 23/05/2022 07:50

We were in the same predicament like you many years ago. Obviously the way house prices have gone crazy on reflection it could have been a good thing but now it’s ridiculous and not the same.

Having extra money is great, we have had many wonderful holidays and never had to worry about money. Plus now as it’s just DS at home soon DH will get the giant office he wants and I will get his smaller office as a hobby room.

The other unexpected occurrence was my health and having to retire at 50. I have had one other friend forced to retire in their mid fifties due to health issues. His mortgage was also paid off like me, what a relief.

DelurkingAJ · 23/05/2022 07:53

We’re moving for more space (mainly garden but also office as I’m now permanently WFH) and I’m entirely relaxed that we’ll pay a mortgage for a bit longer and then possibly downsize to pay the rest off. But my DPs did exactly that so it seems normal to me!

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 23/05/2022 07:54

I would look at your expected future costs.
We were vaguely exploring moving, until I saw how much I would be expected to contribute to my DC's university costs. Basically that will be a second mortgage. It's a few years until the elder will go, but in the meantime their hobbies have started to cost more, and just feeding/clothing/entertaining teens is a lot more expensive than taking care of primary aged kids.

DelurkingAJ · 23/05/2022 07:54

And we’ve taken out all the insurance so if eg ill health happens we’re covered.

Indoctro · 23/05/2022 07:57

Mortgage free, we are early 40's and mortgage free and it's a amazing feeling

Remember your kids will move out eventually . I would go the loft extension if it was me.

rookiemere · 23/05/2022 08:00

What's your pension provision like?
I wish in my 40s I'd ploughed any spare money I had into additional contributions. Having a big house is essentially a dead asset once you've paid it off. It sounds like your house size isn't causing you distress and there are so many cons as well as pros to
Moving that I'd stay put.

SomewhereEast · 23/05/2022 08:10

It's a very personal decision really. We've chosen to prioritize disposable income over a bigger house. The pros are that we can be reasonably relaxed about issues like rising interest rates + energy costs (terraced new build - super cheap to heat) and feeling that we can say yes to the fun stuff for the DC (IME clubs etc start adding up as they get further into KS2). The big downside for us is a small garden, but we like to be out & about anyway. So I would stay put in your shoes.

rookiemere · 23/05/2022 08:20

Oh yes interest rates are set to rise significantly this year along with heating and living costs.
Based on that I'd defer any decision to move until things have hopefully calmed down, plus I suspect house prices may fall.

mowglika · 23/05/2022 08:38

I would do a double extension -
loft and kitchen/extra bathroom, that way you have all the space you need but it won’t cost you as much as moving, no regrets

Im not against sizing up while your family is growing, you can downsize and probably be mortgage free on a smaller place once you no longer need the space, but the current uncertainty around interest rates and houses prices would make me think twice

I think improving your current house sounds like the next option atm, all you need is a bigger space for your children really to feel more comfortable. I’d start by getting quotes for an extension

DaisyWaldron · 23/05/2022 08:49

We stayed and extended and I have no regrets. I love the centrally located area where we live, and moving to a bigger house would have meant a more rural location, which I really didn't want for when my kids were teens.

HappyHappyHermit · 23/05/2022 08:55

With building work being very very expensive I would look to move and start overpaying as soon as you can. You can extend to add bedroom space etc, but you won't be able to add a drive or make the garden bugger so nowadays you are unlikely to make that money back on the value. Also, as your children grow older it will be far easier to have a drive so they can park and come and go for visits etc. I would buy now but do a 5 year interest rate fix. Rates will go up a bit, but likely not all that high and will probably come back down in the not too distant future.

TheNoodlesIncident · 23/05/2022 08:56

If you absolutely needed extra space, I'd extend rather than move. Although costs of extensions etc have increased significantly, it would still be more cost effective to extend your current house than to move to a bigger one.

If you move, you have to pay out many thousands in legal fees, stamp duty and associated costs with large amounts of stress to go with the process. Your current area has so much going for it and your house sounds easily extendable, so I would do that, no contest.

Bimbomboosh · 23/05/2022 09:04

Following out of interest

Bimbomboosh · 23/05/2022 09:04

Following out of interest

XJerseyGirlX · 23/05/2022 09:07

This is what me and my dh are weighing up , although I think we've recently made a decision. It ultimately came down to not the house itself , but more the location.

We are a family of 6 in a 4 bed. 2 girls share a bedroom , 1 girl on her own and 1 boy on his own.

They have just come to the age when they can go down the park with friends ( kids are between 6 and 11 yrs) and to the shop etc... they walk to school so no drop offs.

We thought about moving for a long time to somewhere bigger with a bigger garden but that would have meant they couldn't walk to school or just pop down the park with friends anymore ( makes life easier for us ).

We have decided to stay until the youngest leaves primary school , there are school buses for the comprehensive schools so our scope to move will be a far wider location when the time comes xx

SneezesHaveStarted · 23/05/2022 09:08

I would also investigate extending before deciding to move - I know building costs have rocketed, but it’s worth knowing exactly how much it would cost and what it would get you before you decide to leave a house that you essentially like.

We did a loft conversion on our 3-bed terrace and put in a big bedroom and bathroom up there, now the kids have their own floor and we have ours, it works well.

KosherDill · 23/05/2022 09:09

I'd go for loft extension.

DockOTheBay · 23/05/2022 09:11

I wouldn't move now. Interest rates are increasing so your affordable mortgage might not be so affordable in a years time. Plus rising cost of bills and everything else! If you're comfortable where you are i would stay

Fifi0102 · 23/05/2022 09:13

We are in the same boat living in a 3 bed semi we were going to upsize but the way inflation is going , bills going up we have decided to stay put for 2 years until at least DD starts secondary school. We are saving up money to put on the future house. I just don't have any confidence in the economy going forward.

averythinline · 23/05/2022 09:22

If your schools sre good and you like the location i would stay and do the loft....

Rainbowqueeen · 23/05/2022 09:27

I’d leave it for now and work hard on overpaying your mortgage and putting money into your pensions.

It’s not a good time to move due to house prices and rising costs and if you change your mind in a couple of years you’ll be in a better position.

Effram · 23/05/2022 09:39

I'd stay and do the loft. We have what sounds like a similar house to you and we just had the loft done (ensuite bedroom) and it's been amazing to just have this magical extra space! Definitely given us some longevity in this house. Looking around we have definitely added at least what we paid into value of the house too. We also looked at side return extensions which are tempting if we decide to stay Long term but wouldn't be such a good investment in the house value.