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?

Stay in London, sell the house for your deposit. Or rent it out and use the rental income to find your London lifestyle.

I'd sell and buy in Hackney.

I moved out of London because I didn't want to raise DC there however I'd rather be there than Wythenshawe.

I have to be honest, I live in a 'naice' South Manchester suburb, but I don't like Manchester much. Liverpool city centre is nicer.

We could never afford to move back to London, to a nice area anyway, but a choice of Hackney vs Wythenshawe, Hackney would win every time.

Has anyone actually been to Manchester on this thread ? I used to live near there and it fucking rains all the time and its miserable, I mean really miserable. Did I mention the misery? And I lived in hull

Honestly just go up for a visit your dh might change his mind in an instant

It's different growing up somewhere and knowing everyone and loving a place because it's where you have lived and everyone you know lives there. This won't be you

Has anyone actually been to Manchester on this thread ?

perhaps read the thread and your question will be revealed

@Bigpaintinglittlepainting

Has anyone actually been to Manchester on this thread ? I used to live near there and it fucking rains all the time and its miserable, I mean really miserable. Did I mention the misery? And I lived in hull

Honestly just go up for a visit your dh might change his mind in an instant

It's different growing up somewhere and knowing everyone and loving a place because it's where you have lived and everyone you know lives there. This won't be you

Gosh, if only there was some way of establishing whether anyone who had been to manchester had posted on this thread

The best piece of advice I was given by a careers counsellor is that relocation is much easier when you have primary age children as you will meet people at school and that will really help you establish yourself in that community.

This is exactly what happened when we relocated. I have never regretted moving area

I’m with you op.

I’ve lived and worked in London and Manchester (taught in east London and Wythenshaw.) I live in another U.K. city now but still dream of going back to London and would if I could afford it (single salary so no chance.)

@bowmejen3 if your husband was bored growing up in Manchester, that’s because he had shit parents and friends.

@Talk4000 “the north” which part of that massive place did you live in?
Edinburgh?
The lakes?
Newcastle?
Leeds?
Liverpool?
Hull?
Bradford?
Rochdale?
Sheffield?
Barnsley?

All massively different; as I assume Margate and Reigate are. 🙄

YANBU but financially it would make sense to move. Personally, I would move for 12 months to house, see if area suits and if it doesn't then sell house and buy in nicer area with small mortgage to make up difference.

@ElaineMarieBenes thank you for coming back to me!

@bowmejen3

Ahhh so much to think about!

Gonna throw a big curve ball here too..

My family moved to Birmingham to live with my brother and all my childrens cousins live in Manchester.. same age children from BIL and SIL..

Dh says it's even more of a factor but I said we can't just live somewhere on the hope they will be all close growing up! There quite close now anyways (as close as 4 year olds can be)

Family is very important to me, personally, and I'd live close to them if I could. So I'd be considering what the job prospects are like in Manchester and Birmingham and moving to a nice area in one of those cities. There would still be plenty to do for the children as they grow up. And both cities are much more affordable than London.

While in theory it's a good idea to try living in the house for a bit, I would worry that your DH might get too comfortable and drag his heels about moving again if you didn't like it. Also, your children are young but I still wouldn't want too much upheaval for them. I would probably rent in a good area for a year to try it out, meanwhile sell the house, then if you like the area, use the equity to buy somewhere else.

Being mortgage-free is great but not actually necessary at this stage IMO, you need to be in an area where you have good jobs and decent standard of living, and with that deposit your mortgage would be small and affordable.

@Bigpaintinglittlepainting where did you live? We live in a Manchester suburb and it’s gorgeous. Village feel, independent shops, great schools, great friends. Beautiful housing, 10 mins into the centre. We moved from london and couldn’t be happier. It you lived in a dreadful area fair enough but don’t tar the whole of Manchester with the same brush. Having said that where we live is ££ and £240k wouldn’t buy you much.

Also given global warming and how painfully hot london can be (I remember it very very well) some people prefer the climate of the north!

@Shutupandcry are you in Prestwich by any chance?

@RussianSpy101 no west didsbury!

@Shutupandcry

Also given global warming and how painfully hot london can be (I remember it very very well) some people prefer the climate of the north!

Is there a different London than the one I live in?

I would sell and buy something else,personally not any city but 100% not london

@Shutupandcry gorgeous 😍

@nancy75 I have so many memories of the summers being so hot living in zone 2 london! Maybe the lack of airflow? I was also heavily pregnant in summer and genuinely thought I would die of the heat! 😂

Also team DH. Sell and buy a house in one of the nicer areas of Manchester. I've lived here's my whole life and truly love the place and I'm so proud to live here. The city is great and a brilliant place to raise children.

@Elciekay

YANBU but financially it would make sense to move. Personally, I would move for 12 months to house, see if area suits and if it doesn't then sell house and buy in nicer area with small mortgage to make up difference.

How would it make sense financially to move?

Better wages in London and property is a better investment there.

It really depends on what is important to you.
Born and brought up in Paris. Went to London for a bit. Not a big fan. Now between Manchester and Liverpool. Got the lifestyle i wanted. Nice town, nice house, mortgage low enough, both in well paid jobs which means we are comfortable. Much more than we'd be in London. This allows us to do quite a bit with the kids at the weekend and to go abroad on holidays fairly regularly. You'd be able to do some city breaks or indeed regular trips to London with the money saved on mortgage/rent surely. Manchester is under 2 hours to London by train. It's a no brainer to me.

The wages in London aren't that much better. Depends on the job.

@planningtomakeaplan depends what you’re buying. House prices are shooting up in greater Manchester and you benefit far more from this if you own the house than you would if owning 25% of shared ownership. Also the security of owning the house compared to paying rent, subject to rent rises and rules associated with shared ownership.