AIBU to want to buy a flat if we can't afford a house

[JourneyToThePlacentaOfTheEarth]

Hi all,

I had a small 2 bed house in London that I sold a couple of years ago. Dh and I used the proceeds to clear debts (most were exh's who left me). We've been rebuilding our credit ratings meantime and living in private rental outside London.

We both work full time and have 3 dc who have settled in well to our new town and new life. But I hate private renting. Our first rental was put up for sale after only a few months and there was nowhere else available to rent. I thought we'd be homeless, came close but finally found somewhere else. I'm terrified the new landlord will do the same.

Dh has no problem with renting, he's never owned and doesn't see the point. We have a small 5 per cent deposit which we keep chipping away at and I want to buy a property before we are completely priced out. Dh has finally agreed and mortgage advisor says we're in a good position to apply for a mortgage.

Cheapest 3 bed houses round here are 240k. We earn 67k jointly but so many expenses including train to London.

So today I suggested buying a 3 bed flat with garden for approx 180k. Dh was v unhappy with the idea. He thinks we deserve to live in a house, because "we're not poor".

Wtf

So far he's said no to a 2 bed house, no to shared ownership, no to cheaper villages, no to small pokey houses.

We've put in an offer for a biggish 3 bed but it will need lots of work. And the monthly repayment will be £150 more than our current rent whilst a flat would cost £150 less per month.

I hope to move to a house on afew years. if the flat won't sell at that stage we could remortgage for a deposit and maybe rent it out.

Mners what do you think??

Go for a flat ! We moved last year from a flat (whilst muttering that we would never live in another one) and our criteria was 'house only'. However, certainly in the area we live houses still attract a 'premium' and in terms of floor space you get more bang for your buck by buying a flat. In the end we settled for an interesting conversion with a garden - and it's fine.

Good luck.

Ooh that sounds nice allthenames. So glad it's worked out well for you.

Council tax and bills are usually lower in flats too which is a consideration.

We went for the run down, top of our budget option. It's a 2 bed detached house. It was worrying at the beginning because we were on a very tight budget and if one of us had lost our job we would probably have been repossessed.

But 8 years on, the situation is a lot better, our income has gone up, we are now in a position to do the major repairs it needs and possibly extend. If we'd gone for a flat here it would have cost us £10-£20k to move again.

The only downside has been is that we've lived in a run down house for quite a long time. Which depresses me at times but the dc really don't notice. But what seemed like a huge mortgage and a great risk 8 years ago, is now not really either a few years down the line.

In summary if it were me I'd go for the run down 3 bed and find the £150. Although it might be difficult at first, I think you'd end up in a better position at the end. But only if you don't mind living with an old bathroom and mouldy windows in the process.

I don't know if you say how old your dc are. But for us, I had been working part-time, paying childcare so our income had potential to increase in the future as dc got older.