To want a bigger house if DH continues to wfh?

[toodlesmoon]

Not really an AIBU

Is anyone else looking to move from their smaller city located house as a result of Covid?

I already wfh 2 days out of 3 so it wasn't a huge change for me (home educating & childcare at the same time was!). DH used to do about 3 days a month from home but like many city firms hes now looking at just 3-4 days a month in the office. There is not enough space for us to both wfh long term so thinking we should perhaps take the plunge and move further out.

Anyone else done similar or thinking of?

Not exactly the same but Covid has accelerated our moving plans and made us rethink location. Covid has shown us how important house is so we are moving to somewhere cheaper where we can get something much bigger and a study for me to comfortably work from home.

We were already house hunting and the market went crazy this month. We bought a house with a study (hopefully, it's conveyancing)

I think it would be daft atm, lots of redundancies coming up.
People who think there jobs are safe, move and have big mortgage just to get repossessed.
No job is safe, I'd stay put in something you might manage to keep when it goes tits up.

[quote toodlesmoon]@Ellisandra I'm born & raised Londoner priced out of my local area, what do you suggest I do if I want more space? [/quote]
Honestly, @toodlesmoon I don’t expect you to do anything on an individual level, other than what you’re doing. It’s a problem that goes beyond you.

I do think that with £900K to spend, and already owning a home in Z2, you’re not priced out of your area in quite the same way as someone who can’t buy in their home town at all though.

@killerofmen

Same as it ever was *@Ellisandra*

Yep! I just wondered if it Covid impact on office working will cause a specific jump in the existing problem.

Lots of people seem to be moving from London to Bristol atm. Prices in Bristol are high (I guess nowhere near as high as London though). If you're looking for a quiet place I don't think it's the place to go though; pretty busy and lots of traffic.

@Ellisandra

It would be interesting if all this made London undesirable again, like it was before the 1980s restructuring of the economy to a London based fin services economy. Although we now have the additional problem of Russian/Chinese/Saudi investors parking their money in London property. Perhaps it will become a city of expensive but empty flats and houses next to social housing and cheap HMOs.

@Ellisandra well that 900k is only dependent on what someone will pay for my house & it may be less in the current climate. I couldn't afford that, it's mainly equity.

Why it's not the same? Because I have a bigger budget? I live 5mins from where I grew up & my parents are still there. Lots of the same faces I knew as a kid are still here. My parents are immigrants so I have zero family apart from my family round the corner. Yes I could afford to move further out to get more space but I can't afford it where I am. Of course there is an issue with people being priced out of their hometowns but I find it odd that those conversations exclude Londoners.

I think it would be daft atm, lots of redundancies coming up.
People who think there jobs are safe, move and have big mortgage just to get repossessed.
No job is safe, I'd stay put in something you might manage to keep when it goes tits up.

Tbf we wouldn't be increasing our mortgage by very much & we have stopped paying childcare (whoop whoop) & those things could be an issue even if we stayed.

[quote toodlesmoon]@Ellisandra well that 900k is only dependent on what someone will pay for my house & it may be less in the current climate. I couldn't afford that, it's mainly equity.

Why it's not the same? Because I have a bigger budget? I live 5mins from where I grew up & my parents are still there. Lots of the same faces I knew as a kid are still here. My parents are immigrants so I have zero family apart from my family round the corner. Yes I could afford to move further out to get more space but I can't afford it where I am. Of course there is an issue with people being priced out of their hometowns but I find it odd that those conversations exclude Londoners. [/quote]
The answer is in your own thread. Come on. You live FIVE minutes from your parents, in the area where you grew up. You have children, and had enough space for one person working from home before all this, so I’m sure you don’t have the smallest bedsit in the area either.

You have not been priced out of the area where you grew up

You might want a bigger house - fine.

But you are not in the same position as someone who cannot buy where they grew up, full stop.

That’s not about the size of your budget or that it’s London. It’s about the fact that someone who already owns in their local area can’t say they’re priced out in the same way as someone who cannot afford to buy in their home area - be that London or elsewhere.

I wasn't just referring to me though plenty of my friends have been priced out & some childhood friends/families who were in social housing have been moved out. It's true that the conversation generally doesn't involve Londoners & "we" are just expected to move out.

I said upthread I only am "here" because I had help on the ladder before prices went crazy. I couldn't afford to buy now or then without help. I am priced out if I want to stay anywhere close to my family & have a bigger property and that's with ton of equity. Of course I am privileged but it shows how distorted the market is.

@toodlesmoon I know what you mean, it's deemed a privilege to live in London and yet an expectation for most to be able to live near families elsewhere. I'm of the ilk where I will move to where I can to maintain a lifestyle even if that means leaving family, as my parents did the same, (we left more for opportunities rather than priced out perse) but I do think it's difficult and dare I say unfair for those who just want to stay where they've always known but it not being within their means. You can't help where you're born and it's a shame to feel forced out, though I don't think that's exactly what's happening to you, I think that's a good budget by anyone's standards

@notheragain4 thank you & I absolutely agree I have a good budget (though it may not be so good if no one wants to move to London!). It annoys me that the conversation re priced out never involves Londoners (and obviously there are different levels of priced out but there's rarely sympathy for Londoners). My parents came to England with nothing like many of my friends parents, they moved to a not particularly nice or safe area when living in London wasn't even the done or desirable thing hence why they could afford it. The area has gentrified beyond belief but who could have predicted that.

Yes we are thinking the same. Currently Z4 London and have a similar budget. We would still need to be within 45 minutes train of London Bridge, but it opens up so so many different areas, and the opportunity to have a bigger house and better standard of living. We are planning on leaving it at least two years though to see how things settle down.

The only thing that would stop me is that being close to London means that me DD would have easier access to things like work experience in the future.

@Pregnantandredundant do you worry in 2 yrs prices will be very expensive in outer areas?

I did feel sorry for people cooped up in small houses, with dc and no gardens.

I think this whole pandemic have prodded people to reprioritise.

[quote toodlesmoon]@Ellisandra well that 900k is only dependent on what someone will pay for my house & it may be less in the current climate. I couldn't afford that, it's mainly equity.

Why it's not the same? Because I have a bigger budget? I live 5mins from where I grew up & my parents are still there. Lots of the same faces I knew as a kid are still here. My parents are immigrants so I have zero family apart from my family round the corner. Yes I could afford to move further out to get more space but I can't afford it where I am. Of course there is an issue with people being priced out of their hometowns but I find it odd that those conversations exclude Londoners. [/quote]
You own a house 5 mins from where your parents live. You have definitely NOT been priced out of the area.

My OP didn't say anything about being priced out I simple said I was looking to move to more affordable areas & thus have more space in the light of Covid & increased wfh. A poster made the point that me moving was displacing locals & I replied saying I can't afford bigger in my area so my only option is to move to other areas. Making property prices high in other areas is the unfortunate result of not being able to stay local. I'm not sure what I can do about it.

[quote toodlesmoon]@Ellisandra I'm born & raised Londoner priced out of my local area, what do you suggest I do if I want more space? [/quote]
Your OP didn’t use the phrase “priced out” but you certainly used it in a follow up thread. And I objected to you saying you’d been priced out of your local area when you already own a home 5 minute from your parents.

I don’t know what the answer is - local sales only on some properties as in CI? - but it’s not your fault as an individual, and I’d do the same as you. I only objected to you considering yourself in the same boat as someone who can’t buy locally - when actually, you just can’t buy as big as you’d like.

I disagree that people leave Londoners out of the examples. Anecdotally that’s not my experience, and I’ve seen lots of pieces over the years on Londoners being priced out through “gentrification”. And frankly areas that haven’t been gentrified are STILL out of reach for many full time working adults.

Housing is a mess, but it’s not you that made it that way.

@Ellisandra I can't afford a bigger property where I am though & you were the one who made the point about the likes of me making it hard for others. It was in my reply to you that I raised this issue because why do you think I am priced out a bigger property or if you prefer can't afford a bigger property in my area? And I also said I wasn't just referring to me as plenty of Londoners can't get on the ladder at all.

I agree with that the housing market is a mess.

DH did start making noises about swapping a packed tube commute for a longer train one

DH stopped whinging about commuting once he started getting a seat on the train.

Might not matter that much if commuting infrequently and there are fewer people going in on any given day due to WFH arrangements.

Not looking to move but we have invested in a garden office

Yes. It's not our sole reason for moving, but it is a factor. We are moving from a busy village (bit of a rat run) to a quieter village 20 minutes further from London. Larger house and garden, with a 3rd small bedroom that will be my office. We are paying more (rent), but nowhere near the cost of an equivalent house where we currently live. Being that bit further out has made it affordable. Commute is more difficult now, but even in normal conditions I dont have to travel more than 2 days a week, so worth it for me. If I were facing going back to the office 5 days a week, I wouldn't have done it.

I'm not in London but in south coast Hampshire. You can get a lot of house here with £900k. We have 4 beds and both DH and I are set up to have our own working area so working from home is easy. I have the spare bedroom because I always have WFH around 2 days a week. Now DH has set himself up in a corner of the living room with a desk, monitor, chair etc. We still have the dining room, conservatory and a large kitchen downstairs for the kids to use.

I think you won't regret moving out a bit. You can get a lot more space within 90min commute to london. I see in the newspaper that's what the commuting distance a lot of people are looking at.

Oh and we have outstanding primary and secondary schools. I think the only downside is it's not bustling like London and it's not a charming village with lots of old buildings.