Would you move house, and if so, when?

[Curlewwoohoo]

Just wondering what others would do, as it's going around in my head! Would you move to a bigger house or stay put?

We are 2 adults, daughter and son at primary school yrs 5 & 3. Our house is a a 3 bed mid terrace with living room and extended kitchen diner with a bit of family space, small and green cute garden.

Pros are cost currently £600 a month to rise to £900 max. Can pay it off before retirement. Easy to maintain. Done it up how we want it. Nice neighbours. Saved a bit for the kids futures.

Cons are 2 adults who work from home various times, my desk is in the living room which is ok for now but more of an issue when kids are bigger and I go full time. I can hot desk 1 mile away though. DH works at a fold up desk upstairs. Sons bedroom is small 2.8x2.6m and he's keen to get a drum kit 😆 Small garden, no room for trampoline or a kick about. It's not a great area for kids to play out.

If we move then the cost really goes up, maybe to £1800. We probably couldn't afford holidays abroad (not that we've gone anyway). Early retirement wouldn't be on the cards! But we'd look for somewhere with a garage for bikes, somewhere kids can play out more like parks, bigger garden space, a home office.

I'd stay put for that much increase. I've lived in small homes and it was a bit miserable but I'd rather that an d have £900 spare money a month.

I would stay, but can you look at the cost of extending into roof - not as a bedroom because of difficult fire regs, but as additional space for your offices etc?

I don't think we can go into the loft easily at all.
The neighbours are still in their house with teenagers and bikes...I might ask how they're making it work.

Just hoping to prompt a couple more opinions...

Thats a huge jump! Can you not get a bit more space without spending that much money. We are in the process of moving as 14 Yr old sons room is 8ft x 7ft and we should have done it a lot earlier. We are only increasing our monthly cost by about £300

We're moving soon as we really need the extra space for DH to wfh. Currently uses living room (open plan) or DS's room and wish we'd done it a couple of years ago.

Re early retirement, you could perhaps downsize again to retire early.

I would move as your DS's room is so tiny and you would definitely need another room for ft wfh. I'd probably try to time it so that you'd get into a good secondary for your older dc. You don't mention schools at all, but that would be the main reason I'd want to move to a nicer area. Also good for secondary age dc to be able to have somewhere to go locally. More important than a big garden at that age.

We took on a big jump in mortgage but we see it as a good investment too as we expect a bigger house to increase in price more over the longer term, compared to a flat which we were in before. We plan to downsize once the dc leave home and then hopefully have a decent amount to give to dcs when they are older. So even though we will have larger mortgage payments, we will get that money back (tax-free) in the future.

No not really. Our house was a very reasonable price even for 8yrs ago, but we ended up spending a lot doing it up. Prices have gone up since, and that's what 4 beds or larger 3 with an office space cost.

I wouldn't move. But this is Mumsnet where every child has their own bedroom,every adult has their own office.. good neighbours are to be treasurerd especially in a terrace..as well as the higher mortgage,you have to factor in higher bills, council tax,fuel. I say this as someone who has been made homeless several times through no fault of my own (well, unless you count marrying the wrong man) my DKs have pretty much always shared bedrooms and they are roughly 5 years apart,it never caused problems. I actually love living in little cottages! Oh, yes,then there's eye watering feed and stamp duty!

I don't see a burning reason to move. What do you mean by hot desking a mile away? Is that your office, or a shared workspace thing - does it cost you? How much? I'd probably look into that if wfh is the main driver for needing more space.

It probably depends a bit on your lifestyle though. I tend to agree that on mumsnet people tend to associate big houses and gardens with quality of life but I live in zone 2 London where lots of kids lead very privileged lives while living in flats with small or no gardens.

I shared a room too @Nannyfannybannybut DC can't share as girl boy.

@longestlurkerever I can work at a sister company 1 mile away from home. But that leaves DH working from home 3 days a week either in living room or on a fold out table. I agree it is manageable.

I would move. If you are already concerned about lack of space, you’ll notice it more as the kids get bigger. Having 2 adults working from home as well, it’s helpful to separate family space and work space.

I would move and sooner rather than later. It will cost you more but you will also have a bigger asset when you come to retire. Then can downsize and use the equity if you need to and will have had the benefit of living in a lovely big house that works for your family.

We recently moved, the house is only a little bit bigger but has a much better configuration for our family needs, and a massive garden which is what we were really wanting/needing. It's nearly doubled our mortgage payment, but we're still comfortable so I don't care. Our quality of life has improved massively in this house, and it hasn't even been 2 full months here yet. No regrets in the slightest.

How far are you looking at moving, and does that affect secondary schools?
Personally, the house sounds manageable, but not perfect, for 4 people, 2 of who are WFH. But the increase in mortgage is massive.
Tough choice.
We moved.

We would stay in same town, with same school options (lack of - that's a whole other thread!)

If you're looking at moving, why not look at moving to a completely different area and see what the options are there?

I realise it's not for everyone but there's a lot of UK (or elsewhere even) out there as a possible place to live.

Extended family have moved from 3 locations to where we are now. We like where we live.