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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Moving from a 2 bed to 3 bed - expense rant!!

68 replies

SandandSky · 15/06/2023 15:43

my DH and both grew up in the area we live now. When we bought our 2 bed 8 years ago we could afford to live in this area. Prices have gone up soooo much! I know lots of people moan about Londoners moving into other areas, and that’s what’s happening here… and to be honest I don’t blame them! It’s just frustrating how much the prices have gone up

and the jump between 2 bed and three bed is ridiculous

our 2 bed has been valued at £360k with a 3 bed with a decent garden being on average £475k.. and that’s with work to do!!

this is out of reach for us, so realistically we will have to move away from where we grew up, and away from DCs grandparents and school/nursery if we want a bigger house (which we need with soon to be 3 kids!)

I know there’s no solution really, I just find it so upsetting and frustrating

anyone else finding it hard to move up the ladder?

OP posts:
Original poster
SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:12

its mostly the sentimental bit I find increasingly difficult.

we lost our first baby and the idea of moving away from where they are buried is miserable

OP posts:
Original poster
SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:13

And being beholden to the agenda for change pay scale it does feel increasingly unlikely we will ever get there!

OP posts:
Leastsaidsoonestscrewed · 15/06/2023 16:16

Lcb123 · 15/06/2023 15:54

And there is it. You’ve made £160k.

Same house, different label. All this stupid ' ooh, you've made money' nonsense is so ignorant. It means f all unless you can use it.

PonkyPonky · 15/06/2023 16:18

It’s all about sacrifices in my experience. We needed a 4 bed. In our area at the time they were averaging £400k. We found a 3 bed on a crap road with no off road parking. The third bedroom was big enough to put walls up to make 2 smaller bedrooms. The house was in an absolute shit state and we hard balled them as knew most would be put off by the scale of the work required and we got it for £265k. It was our absolute max and we have spent every penny and every spare waking minute trying to make the place nicer. We are 2 years in now and although it’s no where near there and it’s been a whole lot of stress and tears, I bloody adore my home now. Parking is annoying, traffic noise in annoying. It’s also stressful that everything is broken or shit or needs replacing but we make it work. Look for houses that are run down enough to put people off but not so much that you can’t afford to make it habitable. And don’t rule out looking at 2 beds that have the potential to become 3 beds with a stud wall or garage or loft conversation

loislovesstewie · 15/06/2023 16:18

Sorry but it was the same 40 years ago, neither DH nor I ended up living near family. We moved miles away to a cheap area where we could both find jobs. At various times, one or both of us travelled a distance to work, or one or other worked shifts. I now live hundreds of miles from my family. That's life, it was the only way we could afford anything.

TeaKitten · 15/06/2023 16:19

Leastsaidsoonestscrewed · 15/06/2023 16:16

Same house, different label. All this stupid ' ooh, you've made money' nonsense is so ignorant. It means f all unless you can use it.

Show quote history

Stupid comment. She absolutely can use it, just not in the exact area she wants.

ThankmelaterOkay · 15/06/2023 16:25

This is a weird moan post.

You’ve made £160k in 8 years. Presumably you paid down a lot of the mortgage on that low rate for 5 years, and again for another 3 years (two to go). You must’ve had £20k for the original deposit. Surely you’ve paid like £1k a month will hardly any interest, even if you’ve only knocked £6k off mortgage each year, that’s £48k. So:
£160k
£20k
£48k
Total = £228k
£500k - £228k = £262k, of which £150k you can port at the low rate for 2 years, and £112k you need a new mortgage? Seems doable to me.

Assume you earn >£40k each to want to live in a £475k house?

Febreezefantastic · 15/06/2023 16:27

You’ve made £160k.
not really, you only make money if you downsize or relocate. When everything has gone up, it just means the gap has increased.

ThankmelaterOkay · 15/06/2023 16:29

The best outcome for you is your house drops 20%, and the 3 beds do the same.

Original poster
SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:32

I work in the NHS… I don’t earn anything near 40k!

I don’t want to live in a 475k house… that’s what a 3 bed is in our area is (not even a very good one!) and we realistically need to move at some point in the next year

this isn’t a frivolous, “oh boohoo I want to live in a massive posh house”

I just want to live somewhere where my family are comfortable and we can be near the grandparents

OP posts:
Original poster
SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:33

I guess buying somewhere much smaller but with plenty of options to extend is the best choice for us

bit I do resent paying more money for somewhere that’s still not appropriate for our family 😂

OP posts:
AxolotlEars · 15/06/2023 16:34

Not on ladder. Can't even see it in the distance!

PuffinsRocks · 15/06/2023 16:34

Assume you earn >£40k each to want to live in a £475k house?
Why would you assume that? What a random number to pick out of thin air. OP clearly stated she's on Agenda For Change.

Original poster
SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:38

Also, not just frustrated for ourselves…

out house would be advertised as an “ideal for first time buyers” house

that’s so much money for a first time buyer, I would hate to be someone looking for their first house these days

OP posts:
cadburyegg · 15/06/2023 16:40

It's mental. Ours is a 3 bed that we bought for 310k 6 years ago and is now valued at 370k, we haven't done anything to it. I'm not planning to upsize, good thing really as like pp said, 4 beds are around the 500k mark, and I'm tied to the area near my kids' school now.

Dreamstate · 15/06/2023 16:41

As a previous poster mentioned, the choices you make will always have an impact. You have another child so unfortunately it means you have to move to another area.

Its not Londoners fault. They too had to make choices.

If you didn't want to leave you're area and be near grandparents and this is the priority for you then you make sacrifices or different choices.

DuvetCoverNightmare · 15/06/2023 16:46

This has always been the case. We moved from a small 3 bed to a 4 bed and added £150k to our mortgage. It was slim pickings too and decent houses not needing loads of work were scarce.

troubg · 15/06/2023 17:04

Those Londoners are often priced out too. The concept of climbing the ladder doesn't really work these days.

Farmageddon · 15/06/2023 17:07

Spare a thought for those of us not even on the ladder, who don't have any equity to play with. I can only dream of owning my own place TBH, not on the horizon anytime soon.

Can you extend, or renovate the loft or something? If you love the area, maybe a smaller house is the price to pay for having everything else.

I hear you though, I could never afford to live where I grew up - it's a nice area but not super posh. But anywhere half decent has become unaffordable for an average earner. It is what it is...

TooJoy · 15/06/2023 17:24

I live in Cornwall and as a single parent I don’t think there’ll ever be a time I could afford to buy.

I don’t blame Londoners (I’d love to live in London so the more that move out the better) but they are blamed and there’s a lot of them because they’re the ones that can often afford the high prices because London prices are higher.

I wish they’d clamp down on second home owners more as this is what drives the prices up.

DelilahBucket · 15/06/2023 17:27

A family member came up against the same issue a few years ago. Instead they did a loft extension and removed the chimney breast. All that work was cheaper than moving from a three bed to a four.

ActDottie · 15/06/2023 17:32

Seems quite standard for going from a 2 bed to 3 bed. We sold our 2 bed for 391k and bought a 3 bed for 500k

canigetitmyself · 15/06/2023 17:39

Well we're in a three bed worth £450 and to make the next step; we're looking at £720 at least

For £500-£550 we could get a 3 bed with a tiny bit more space but not worth the expense of moving

There's literally nothing In between

kethuphouse · 15/06/2023 17:48

SandandSky · 15/06/2023 16:32

I work in the NHS… I don’t earn anything near 40k!

I don’t want to live in a 475k house… that’s what a 3 bed is in our area is (not even a very good one!) and we realistically need to move at some point in the next year

this isn’t a frivolous, “oh boohoo I want to live in a massive posh house”

I just want to live somewhere where my family are comfortable and we can be near the grandparents

Those are two "wants". Not needs. I want to be able to afford to live near our parents too but we cannot. You can also be comfortable in a different area. We make choices and then live with the upsides and downsides of those choices. Having three DC is a joy but the downside is that you cannot afford the luxury of a house big enough for them, in your chosen area.

bagforlifeamnesty · 15/06/2023 17:49

Agree with @PonkyPonky you need to look for a shit 3 bed, to put it bluntly. Both of the houses DH and I have bought have been actively disgusting. The first one literally stank of shit 😂 and the second one had not been touched in fifty years and that includes cleaning 🤢 everyone else was put off. My DH thought I was insane. But as he says, I have “the vision” and could see that the houses had good bones and were a bargain. Thankfully he trusted me and we have made them nice with a lot of blood sweat and tears!