To move because dh inherited property?

[bowmejen3]

So I'm born and bred in Hackney. Met my husband here who is originally from south Manchester in one of the largest council estates In Europe apparently.

We've been married 10 years and have two children. (4 and 2 months)

We rent privately and was looking forward to getting on the shared ownership scheme this year! 4 year old settled in nursery waiting for reception etc! However DH has been very stressed and with rising living costs. We have not got much to spare each month after saving for our deposit.

Now here is my aibu.
Dh father recently died and left his house (ex council but bought) to dh. It has no mortgage left.

Dh thinks this is the best thing ever as we could move there (3 bed semi detached, big garden, driveway, extra room for washing etc)
Be mortgage free, near his family and have essentially more disposable income to enjoy life, holidays, other ventures etc.

I know I know it sounds perfect on paper... but I always envisioned raising my children in London but dh claims we are actually being selfish because potentially they will never be able to afford to live near us in the future and we may only ever own 25 percent of a flat!
And the area he is from has not got a great reputation...

I believe he could sell the house for around £240,000 (from Rightmove) and put it down for a deposit on a house in London!

Dh thinks I'm being ridiculous to want to not be mortgage free just for the sake of "London" and being snobby towards his childhood area? (Which I'm not)

Aibu?

I'd sell the house and put the money on a deposit for a place in London. If you buy in the right area, your house price may rise a great deal more than what it would in Manchester.

@RowanAlong

Manchester’s a great city too! Sell it and buy somewhere you like better

(She doesn't like it )

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

I grew up near Manchester and now live in London. There are pros and cons to each and a lot of it does come down to personal preference and priorities at any given time in your life.

I assume there was a reason you were looking at a shared ownership situation in London rather than a more affordable house in the North anyway? It would still have been substantially cheaper to get on the property ladder, even without the inheritance.

I agree with posters that this doesn't need to be a zero sum game. I think you need to sit down and work out where it makes the most sense for your family to base yourselves, taking this specific house out of the equation, and then work out what best to do from there.

Everyone's different. Personally I love London and wouldn't want to live in Manchester even if I had a free house there (and whenever we've gone north my DH gets serious agro for his southern accent - as in verbal and physical agro). So I would sell the house, use the money as a good deposit on a share-of-freehold flat or maisonette further out in London.

@TatianaBis

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

As if you've travelled around Britain and seen them all...

There's a strong argument for London being the ballet capital and that's it, IMO

@ABitBesottedWithMyDog

You don't know where I've been. The point is that you don't have to travel all over the country to find museums as in London they're all there in once place. Manchester does not have anything approaching the kind of museums in London. The only places that do compare are other capital cities.

London all the way

@TatianaBis

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

More London centric shit. We get pre West End theatre here and our local city has world famous museums.

I would move to DH house for a bit at least. It’s going to feel amazing not having a mortgage and as someone who was raised in London I agree with your husband on that..as I had to move out from London with my children to buy a house of our own. London house prices will start coming down soon anyway but its still not worth living in a pokey little flat or something just because it’s London.

I suppose I tend to think London is worth staying in [for people who don't yet own a place they'd be content to live in for the rest of their life] if you're lucky enough to be either: (a) at least fairly rich; or (b) in really good quality social housing/rental accommodation which otherwise offers predictably cheap future living & security of tenure.

I'm not crazy about shared ownership. e.g. if you were talking about 25% SO on a say £400k London flat, you'd need a mortgage for the £100k that you'd be borrowing, but would pay something like a say 2.5-3% rental on the remaining £300k [so £7.5k-£9k a year], and this rent would go up in line with inflation, really it's more like renting than owning.

@Blossomtoes

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

More London centric shit. We get pre West End theatre here and our local city has world famous museums.

I'm sorry, but this is a bit like saying London is just as good as mountains of Snowdonia and the lakes of Cumbria because it's got Hampstead Heath and the Serpentine

I think to give up on a free house with NO mortgage

To live in a tiny house that you’ll NEVER own in London is ridiculous!!

I c any even believe it would be a thing.

However I couldn’t imagine living in London.

But you’ll only get 240,000k. Which won’t get you a broom cupboard in London.

I lived inSouth for 14 years and my son went to school there and my family kept at me to return back home as safer etc but the minute was stepping on the plane felt had made wrong decision and 14 years later wish had stayed in London. I loved London and so much to do, the museums at weekends the parks..So much free stuff to do and never felt judged as I do here back home. His school was lovely and this is inner city and the kids lovely. Came back home here and am bored. Yes is safer and quiet but I felt free in my soul in London and loved it. Before you move go spend 2 weeks there as even that will give you a feel of the place. Maybe you will love it but go and see the schools, how far things are from you and how you feel in the area. Most people who say they would never bring kids up in London have never even lived there. Kids back here in school were little shits and kids in school in London were lovely. Just check it out before you move as soo hard to move back to London if you leave. Maybe you will like it there and could sell the house and move to a nicer area in Manchester. A big decision so do not rush it. xx

@RussianSpy101 - happy to add they both gained access to the best facilities/teachers/mentors for their (very different!) skills and hobbies. In addition DS2 had a ‘playwright in residence’ at his ‘finishing school’ (AKA as a PRU!) - this turned out to be life changing for him. I can’t really do justice in a few lines though - but my DCs recognise the advantages compared to their cousins and are very grateful we moved to London. This is how I know, for me, it was my greatest gift to them.

DS1 coincidentally did actually go to Manchester for his degree course (quite specialist) and hated every minute he was there (fortunately he spent his second year in Madrid and because of covid, his third year in London) so he isn’t too bitter! He was offered a place in London for his masters (though currently has declined in order to earn some money - and has a very high starting salary here in London - so still living very near us as is DS2).

South London

I'd sell the house and move to somewhere in the North West, there are some really lovely areas (with great schools) which would seem "cheap" to you. I know a few people who left London for the north in search of a bigger house and more rural lifestyle, one moved to Cheshire, another to Lancashire. The others moved to near Buxton, lovely area and not far from Manchester. It's not all grim up north!

[quote Daphodils]@Blossomtoes

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

More London centric shit. We get pre West End theatre here and our local city has world famous museums.

I'm sorry, but this is a bit like saying London is just as good as mountains of Snowdonia and the lakes of Cumbria because it's got Hampstead Heath and the Serpentine [/quote]
Innit.

DO NOT move to Wythenshawe.
Just don't.
My husband is from South Manchester (not Wythenshawe). We bought our first house there. (An ex council house - brilliant house)
I could not wait to move out- nearly 4 years of the most crime and anti social behaviour I had ever experienced. I literally danced into the estate agent's to hand over the keys when we sold it. We actually made ourselves homeless and put our furniture into storage in order to not loose our buyer and have to stay any longer.
By this point DC1 was around 18 months. Over my dead body would he have started school there 😣
I could tell you plenty of stories privately about my experiences if you want to pm me op. Just please don't do it - you will regret it.

I’m from the north and lived in London for 20 years. There is no comparison, London is an amazing, amazing city. Nothing beats it in my book. I wouldn’t swap it for Manchester (where I have also lived). BUT I would compromise and move further out of London so you get more for your money. £240K will give you a 50% mortgage on a really decent house in a good area. You can still get into central London really easily, your teenagers will still be able to go abs experience it all every weekend if they choose.
I don’t see the need to be mortgage free unless you’re age 50+. Better to choose a great area and house with a nice big depot safety cushion

Definitely Manchester! Great city, can’t see the attraction in raising kids in London. Much cheaper living costs up north and mortgage free. Why not move to the house, give it a few years and then buy in a nicer area. You’ll have such potential to build up a good deposit.

OP, your life is in London. I know both places very well indeed, and would choose London over Manchester any day. Manchester has lots of things going for it, but I love, love, love London.

I'd want to do what you suggest - sell the house in Manchester and use it as a deposit for a house in London (if you could get a mortgage) or to go for the shared ownership option (I'm sorry - I don't know anything about how this works).

But I would definitely not move to Manchester, regardless of where the cousins are!

[quote Daphodils]@Blossomtoes

To compare provincial museums with the size and range of museums and galleries in London has is absurd. There is no comparison. Ditto theatre/dance/music.

More London centric shit. We get pre West End theatre here and our local city has world famous museums.

I'm sorry, but this is a bit like saying London is just as good as mountains of Snowdonia and the lakes of Cumbria because it's got Hampstead Heath and the Serpentine [/quote]
It isn’t. London has more museums obviously, some of them greatly inferior to those in other cities. A West End play is exactly the same whether you see it in London or another city.

I think all the people saying why would. You raise kids in London.. you simply can’t understand unless you were raised that way. I have lots of friends who grew up in London and had the best time and amazing teenage years. Having lived in London, I never felt unsafe there in 20 years. Crime is in all parts of the country

Sell the house - you've got roots in London and I presume YOUR family nearby.