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

[SandandSky]

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?

You should have thought about whether or not you can afford it when you decided to have a third child then shouldn't you.
Actions have consequences.
I'm afraid I have no sympathy.
I do have sympathy for first time buyers in your area needing to find £360 for a 2 bed house.

YANBU

I hear you!

We're in a 2 bed trying to sell- we did get under offer early last year but had to take it off as we couldn't find anything affordable

Worried similar situation again- and this time we've got family help/inheritance to give us a push

We're in SE London zone 5

2 bed split level maisonette

2 primary aged children

To make the step up to 3 bed we need to find over 200k more

18 months ago it would have been more like 125k

Although so much on the market for weeks/months with (small) reductions

Not easy at all!

Would you not need a 4 bed with 3 children?

Children can share bedrooms, but I do draw the line at three in one room - hence the move!

our children are nursery age so there’s nothing wrong with them sharing

and let’s be honest if we can’t afford a three bed in the area, no way in hell can we afford the price of a 4 bed

Sorry, I feel bad that my comment was pretty flippant and rude! I feel for your situation. A poster saying you 'made 160k' is bonkers, as if you have that money sat in the bank!

A lot of people do move away to a cheaper area where they can afford a larger house.

Did you respond to the question about getting the attic converted? That would give you the extra bedroom.

trust me it is Londoners fault in many areas. The fact they can afford whatever asking price these areas want drives the price right up. If they were less sought after the prices would come down. It’s very simple. I’ve worked in house sales for years so I see what’s happening.

I moved to our 4 bed five years ago. We sold our 3 bed for £250k and bought our 4 bed for £430k. It's always been like this so I think YABU.

It wasn’t rude, sorry if it seemed like I was annoyed - I wasn’t!

and I guess that was kind of my point… I know people do it all the time but it still doesn’t change the fact that it seems unfair to be priced out of your own life

And no we can’t convert the attic or do any more converting because we are in a listed curtilage. Which is a shame because we do have a large garden and could quite happily extend otherwise. It would still be expensive but much cheaper than moving

If you have a good size garden could you make the living room a bedroom and put one of those garden pod things in to use as living/play space?

I know it’s not ideal but it might give you time to be able to afford a bigger house (once you stop paying for nursery maybe?)

I just figure you’d struggle with other costs on a £500k house if you didn’t earn fairly decent salaries - ie household income of £75k-£100k.

If it's any consolation to you OP I am a Londoner who moved into a 3 bed in 2004 and we have never been able to afford the jump to a 4 bed. Sure, we have a lot of equity in our house, but it has been impossible to do this move. Londoners are generally more priced out of housing than anyone else in the country and this is why so many move away. I don't know what the answer is but I do know London suffers more than any other city with foreign investors buying up huge swathes of property and keeping it empty, just waiting for house price inflation to do it's thing.

Well yes. But most Londoners, all things being equal, would prefer to stay. See all the hundreds of threads on here where Londoners regret leaving the capital. They do it because they are the same as OP - victims of ridiculous house price inflation. It is not their fault it starts in the city they want to call home. Such closed-off thinking here!!

Yeah it’s really rubbish for everyone! Like I’ve said a few times before I do really appreciate this and I know it’s not your fault. But Just because lots of people have to do it doesn’t mean it’s not unfair

Have you looked at 3bed flats? Garden / ground floor conversion flats can be really roomy.

Honestly? I'd find a way to stay put. Baby can be in your room for a year or more, then swap bedrooms around so DC are in the biggest room with a triple bunk and clever storage. A big garden will be useful when they are young, almost like another room in the house in the summer. Look to move in 5-10 years.

How often do you hear 'Londoners' (Im one) moaning about people from Manchester/Wales/Birmingham/West Country/Yorkshire/Scotland (I could go on) moving into London and driving up house prices? Never

I moved out of London, my home area because I couldnt afford to live there, it happens. People move around, people move countries for goodness sake.

Not sure how listed buildings work (apart from seem to avoid as hassle to extend)

But why can't you extend If have a big Garden