To give up on buying a house?

[babybat]

We're FTB in London, and I'm seriously considering throwing in the towel. OH thinks I'm being too pessimistic, but I'm just not sure it's worth it anymore.

For the last 10 years we've been renting a lovely 2 bed flat in Elephant & Castle, and because we were planning to TTC next year had started to look for a place with a garden, probably around Lewisham/Catford. 2 bed terraces that were around 250-270k last year are now going for upwards of 300k, which is out of our reach. We're widening our search area further and further out, which is going to increase our travelling times and costs. I currently cycle to work, but I'm not sure I could keep doing that if we're out in zone 3/4, and suburban roads seem way too hostile for me to want to cycle with a baby seat. I'd be stuck in suburbia while on mat leave so location matters to me.

The other thing that's bothering me is most of the places we can afford are smaller and frankly less well suited to a new family than where we're currently living. OH is frustrated because he's recently switched jobs with a view to buying a house, and thinks we should be getting on the property ladder because it's 'what everyone does'. I'm thinking our rental place is secure, and buying now could mean we're more likely to lose our house if rates rise. But I know he's given up a job he enjoyed so we could do this, and now I'm changing my mind.

AIBU? Is this just commitment phobia because it's a big change?

Don't move to Peterborough. Thing can't be they bad yet

Laurie I don't believe you....I'm sure your friends flat in Maida Vale is now worth more than that!

I used to live in Herne Hill. When I lived there (early/mid 90s) it was a bit 'dogs on string' and still reasonable. When I came to buy (late 90s) I was priced out. Ended up buying in Tottenham near the foot ball stadium. Bad move. Hated the area. Sold less than a year later - did well and doubled my money.

Could you stay put in the convenient area you like with the nice safe HA tenancy? Save up and see if you want to be there in say 5 years time when DC is starting school? Either way you have a deposit.

Are you Peabody - could you go on a transfer list? I had friends who were PB and had flats on Drury Lane - I would have sold my soul for one of those :-)

Munchkin I realise your comment was meant lightheartedly but it's ingrained snobbery like that which causes people like OP to think that being 'stuck in suburbia' is not an option when I'm fact it's a good way to ensure lovely quality of life for your future babies (OP wants to start ttc) eg a house, a garden, friendly neighbours, without the lottery win you'd need to do this in London.
OP, your life is about to change enormously and your needs will undergo a radical overhaul once you've a nipper in tow. Don't rule out the suburbs. Tbh it's a touch annoying how often my friends and colleagues say they can't afford to buy a house when they mean I can't afford to buy a house IN LONDON. There are so many other options.

Sorry, if I offended. I too got out of London post kids but I also lived in P'borough for a while years ago. Maybe it's nicer now. It wasn't then.

spindly - my suggestion to move right out was based on that she's not looking at buying where she is living now in zone 1, but out in zone 4, where she won't know anyone anyway and will have a long commute - there does seem to be amongst some people a "stay in London no matter what" mentality but once you are moving away from people and areas you know, away from good commuting links and giving yourself an 60/90 minute commute anyway, why not just go completely out and get more for your money?

We took that decision once we realised how many compromises it would take to get a 3 bed house in London, it would have financially crippled us, we'd have had to live in a grotty area without good transport links, we'd have had really long commutes anyway, and realised moving out could give us a much higher standard of living. If we could have afforded to buy a nice house (and there was the housing stock available!) in the area we were renting in, I think i'd have been happy to stay, but once we looked everything we'd have to compromise to buy in London, it stopped being such a good idea.

OP, could you buy a flat where you are now? Or get a right to buy on your flat?

If I were you I wouldn't make a decision until a baby is actually here (not least because you don't have a lot of control over how long that may take).

I found it really hard to know what I wanted before my children were actually here and the housing tick list things I was willing to compromise on changed. Once you have a baby, you may decide where you currently are suits, you may decide moving to the other end of the country is worth doing, you may decide on any permutation in-between.

You are in secure housing in a place you love which is a huge advantage. IMO I wouldn't want to lose that fab set-up partly out of a sense of panic at housing market.

Best of luck with it and TTC!

Also agree, as long as you are confident you can afford the repayments, then don't worry about house prices falling in London, if you buy a house/flat now on the understanding you'll stay for 10 years, you will make on this compared to renting for that period. It's unlikely prices will suddenly fall in the next 2-3 years, and if you intend to stay longer than that, it doesn't really matter if for 6months/a year during the time you owned a house it was worth less than you paid, all that really matters is the price you paid when you bought it and the price you get when you sell it, the value in the interim is irrelivant.

Let me put it this way, my house, outside London, has apparently gone up in value by £100-150k since we bought it (bought in 2009). As I have no intention of moving for at least another 10 years, that doesn't matter at all. However if I've rented and now was looking to buy, we couldn't afford to buy it, even though DH earns considerably more than he did in 2009.

Most of my friends who live in London have made far more money on their properties in the same time period and most would admit that now they couldn't afford to buy their houses.

ovenchips - that can be a dangerous suggestion - mortgages can be hard to get when you are on maternity leave, even if you intend to return to work. Also, the amount you can borrow once you have a "dependant" can be less. OP, check you would still be able to borrow the same amount on the same terms if you were on mat leave and had a baby.

(Also, most of my "mummy friends" to start with where antenatal classes friends, if you are starting again in a new area knowing noone, then it might be easier to do your antenatal classes there)

MaryWestmacott pfft it really isn't 'dangerous' advice, it's just a different way of thinking to yours.

It may be that OP has a baby and doesn't want to go back to work at all and may be able to do that if they stay in their current very secure housing. It may be that OP has a baby and goes back to work full-time and waits to get a mortgage once she's established back in work. Lots of different scenarios are possible.

The right time to buy is not solely a decision made on the housing market. There are plenty of other individual circumstances which also need to be taken into consideration.

It's not like the OP is going to be homeless if she doesn't buy right now. She lives in HA housing in a place she loves, so is very secure.

Hello again! Some interesting things to think about. There are lots of shared ownership places going up locally, but they seem quite expensive once you factor in the rent and the service charge. We're going to see a secondhand SO place next week, which could work. I'll look into RTB, I'd thought about it years ago but just discounted it as I was single at that point and couldn't have afforded it.

We were planning to move out of London when we had primary age children, probably closer to my parents in Norfolk, so it's likely that we'll only want to be in London for another 6 years or so. Putting the money we've saved our forever home up there is a distinct possibility. We have good community links where we are now, but in the areas we're able to afford to buy in, that would probably be more difficult.

Southwark also offer House Purchase Grants and Social Homebuy, not sure if HA qualifies but i'd give the affordable home ownership team a ring. Social Housing is in such short supply there might be incentives available.

Hmm, if you are planning to move when your DCs are school age, have you thought about moving a little earlier, before they start school? It can be hard to move once they have started already, have friends, and it can be hard to get a place in good schools. Moving when they are year 1/2 might prove hard getting them into a good school, which are normally full. Worth checking out befre you make hte decision. If that's the case, then if you wanted to move when this DC is 3 to be in the house before you apply for their school place, there seems little point moving now, making lots of sacrifices to your short term standard of living if it's not going to be a long term home.

I'd stay put, save madly, and then just do the one move to your forever house in time for your DC to start school so no uprooting them.

I'd also check if your own LL offer Social Homebuy (shared ownership of your existing home) as that would be a great deposit building vehicle for a future move to Norfolk.

(getting you a toe on the ladder now, but only one move, so minimal upheaval)

oh yes, fideline's advice is good - moving house is expensive and a lot of faff, if you could get the best of both worlds by buying/part buying your current flat, you'd not have to have the hassle of moving for what is a very short period.

Honestly, if your long term future isn't in London, then a short term move away from your friendship networks in Zone1 just when you'll need them the most doesn't seem worth it, it's not like you'll be moving to zone 4 to build a new life there and stay for 20+ years.

Catford/lewisham isn't zone 4 and only takes about 30 minutes to town.

The prices are going up. Southeast London is catching up with the rest of London.

If you can, buy. The chances are your property will go up in value and when you do move you'll have a good deposit for a family home in Norfolk or can rent it out.

Catford/Hither green/forest hill/Honor oak all have good communities and very family friendly. Check out SE23 mums and SE23 families. I'll be your friend.

We don't live in London but in the largest city of my country (Australia). We were in a simlar position seven years ago - had been renting for over a decade(in various countries) and had just had our second. We didn't really want to move further out from our inner-city suburb but we simply could not afford to buy anything of a decent size in that area. We found a huge apartment close to the largest "sub-city" what was then about an hour away. Since then, they've reorganized trains etc and now it only takes 35 mins to get to the CBD. Prices have gone up here accordingly and if we'd waited longer, we would have found it a struggle to buy even here now. I do feel a bit wistful when I visit the inner-city and see the lovely terraces/apartments but we have more of a chance of affording them now than we would have had if we planned on waiting and saving (because the price increases here have been larger proportionally).

Lots of people I know bought small in London, didn't sell and rented it out moved and used some of the equity to put a deposit down in the south west.

No offence taken munchkin. I didn't realise you spoke from experience :-) Peterborough wouldn't be my first choice but there are nice places roundabout...

We bought for the same reason you are thinking of. we didn't want to be renting with two kids, so we bought. and yes, it is completely crazy. we live in a reasonably large (by London standards) ex-LA house just outside of zone 1.

We went to cambridge last week for a little family outing, where we are told it is "quite expensive". I took a peek into a EA's window and they seem to be giving away houses there in comparison.

I don't know about buying now. I figure the party has to stop some time, but I thought that when we bought two and a half years ago and I was dead wrong. We bought conservatively because we were both convinced prices were going down. Whoops.

But I feel for FTB. I feel we have a reasonable income and we are priced out of our own neighbourhood already. it's madness.

Anyway, good luck.