Would you upsize in the current climate?

[HOUSEMOVER2025]

We’re at a sticking point in that we’ve not completely outgrown our house but we’d like a home office as we both work from home. We’d like a bigger dining area we can only comfortably sit 4 so when we have guests there just isn’t enough space and we’d like a spare bedroom for said guests.

But we’re quite happy where we are and could put in a garden office which would sort the immediate need.

But we’ve seen a house that would mean taking out another 152k on the mortgage, we can get the mortgage. I’m just not sure if it’s the right climate to do it with cost of living but then I guess there’s never a right time. What would you do move house or stay put and sort immediate need knowing that can’t sort the other problems in this house so would only be looking down the line.

I am risk adverse and so would always avoid increasing my mortgage.

I would get a garden office and go to restaurants with the money saved by staying put.

I don't see the point in putting all your money in to your property. I would rather have a smaller property and enjoy the extra money.

No, wait for the budget and see what Reeves is planning re tax first.

Also is it worth spending all that money moving just for a spare bedroom?

The house is a lot bigger than our current house, although I feel like we’ve fallen in with our hearts and maybe need to let the head catch up. It would be around £700 more a month on the mortgage which is a lot of money and that’s what’s niggling at me.

What are your ages, occupations and what if any chance of promotion plus any children or planned children and ages if any and what are your pensions like?

It’s a how long is a piece of string answer without knowing your income, potential for future growth, any plans to reduce hours/more kids etc, age. locations, schools. i doubt i’d take that on in my circumstances but would like an office and a spare room in am ideal world, and somewhere better insulated and with lower energy bills.

To what extent do you have stability of employment? Is the new property in an area where there is a reasonable supply of new work if either of you were to lose your current employment? What would be the new mortgage payments including the extra?

you should focus less on the current situation and more on the future, including the number of years you have of stable employment to have time to make the repayments realistic. If you'd still be paying off a significant amount of your mortgage coming up to retirement, then that would be a significant risk re ability to keep working if either of you have health conditions that might mean you have to give up work earlier than retirement.

We are in the exact same position. So exact that...are you DH!?

I think (unless you are DH) that we have decided to do the garden office because it's quick, relatively easy and doesn't saddle us with a load more debt in an uncertain time. For our suggested move, stamp duty will be £40k+ so it seems silly to just chuck that money away.

I feel we are at a peak of space needs now - DC end of primary still have toys everywhere but are growing physically and need space. Bit in 8 years theyll be loving out. That seems like a long time but if we moved and probably renovated the new house a bit we wouldn't be 'settled' in it for a year or two. It doesn't seem worth all the upheaval for 6 summers.

By not upsizing we will have a lot more disposable income and that means we can pay for DC to go to uni or help them start a business or something when they need it rather than still be paying a mortgage off.

Intergenerational wealth worries me though. Upsizing now would mean a bigger asset to pass down. So by not having that I am keen we max our savings where possible (i.e. don't enjoy the increased disposable money too much)

If there is a change in stamp duty we might be more likely to consider a move.

We upsized at 50 to a house that is frankly too big but it had the garden and off road parking and space to wfh that has vastly improved our quality of life. The old house was fine, nice area etc, good neighbours, but this works for us so much better. We could afford the repayments and work required on it with wriggle room for contingency. We were lucky we remortgaged at a very good rate. But we worked out the figures . I’d say do it.

We’d be well below our maximum
mortgage offer. Well paid jobs of combined income of 100k. Children out of childcare now as primary aged 8 and 3. It just seems like such a big purchase even though I know it offers it so much more especially as the kids grow and we have teenagers in the house. The compromise would be holidays for sure.

You only live once! We've always prioritised our home, it's your sanctuary.

We’re in a similar situation. We’ve always loved our home and it was perfect for us when we had small children/toddlers. And whilst it still works for us now we’re starting to feel that space is an issue. My dd (12) has a tiny bedroom and would like a bit more space, our bathroom is tiny, my dh needs office space. We would like 4 decent sized bedrooms, office space, and an en suite. We have seen a few houses we like that offer what we’re looking for (although not much suitable on the market around us at all at the moment) but we’re going to hold off making any decisions until the budget, as all sorts of rumours are swirling at the moment about tax changes that could affect us.