Which compromises to make on where to live?

[Tjit]

Evening all

The dilemma is I have one child in secondary and another in yr6, hoping both will be at same school from Sep23. Both DC same gender.

Currently in a 2 bed maisonette with garden in calm street but not ideal/safest area overall

Ideally want to move next year to a 3 bed house so each child can have own bedroom, ideally want to be in a nicer neighbouring borough where properties are very expensive eg houses between £600-£800k plus (in London).

This better area would give kids an easier commute ti school, more green spaces, community feel (our church is already in nicer area) so we are there weekly and are familiar with the area, plus used to live there pre-kids (though renting then)

Since having kids we moved to cheaper area, but once youngest finishes primary there next summer, we have no reason to stay. In cheaper area, we could afford the 3bed for £425, but I know deep down I don't want to stay, as I want my kids to hopefully enjoy their teen years in a safer area where I can feel ok about them going to the shops alone etc

Currently dropping older DC to station and picking them up from station after school daily which is exhausting, but feels safer than DC moving around the borough alone due to local gangs, etc being prevalent in the area, we also obviously do school run for younger DC also, so 4x train journeys each day back and forth.

In our ideal borough, properties near the station for houses as I said above are expensive with a min spend of £600k upwards, 3 bed maisonettes are around £425 so the price of a house in the cheaper area, as we are however in a maisonette now with a horrible downstairs neighbour, I had hoped to buy a house next, but cannot afford this in my chosen area

To top this off, due to current interest rates, with a £425 property the cost will already be around £2300pm which feels like a lot, currently paying £702, however when term ends in January, this will go up by £500 anyways,

Partner works, however has debts and as his job is currently out of area he spends a significant amount on his commute already!

Currently earn around £3300pm, so it would be doable to get maisonette in nicer area, but there will be very little else left over after bills etc

So wise mumnetters please give me your wise counsel, moving out of London is not an option for now due to oldest child's school which youngest is likely to also join next year

What would you do in my position?

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I'd get a maisonette in the area you prefer, location is important. but I cannot see how you expect to pay £2,300 on a mortgage, if your take home pay is £3,300? That is not enough left over for bills, food, travel, maintenance, saving for emergencies.

Is that just your take home or combined? If combined you can’t afford it and won’t be approved.

I personally would rather live somewhere I could afford and have more money left over for holidays, days out with DS etc rather than be spending 75% of our income on mortgage. You’d have a nice house, but no money left to enjoy yourselves. I think a compromise like moving a little further out where places are a bit cheaper.

In London, location is the most important factor by far. Buy the best you can afford in the area you like. Even if that means a maisonette rather than a house or less space.

Ok - so your income is £3300. Partners income is ? but he is paying debts and expensive commute so contributes (nothing / little / some????) to the family at this point?

Option 1 - stay where you are with 2 bed maisonette in poor & inconvenient location. Cost £1200 per month.
Option 2 - 3 bed house in current poor and inconvenient location. Cost £2300 per month.
Option 3 - 3 bed maisonette in good and convenient location. Cost £2300 per month.
Option 4 - 3 bed house in good and convenient location. Cost maybe £3500 per month.

At this point you obviously can’t afford (4) and to be honest I don’t think (2) or (3) would be a good idea. A bigger house means bigger council tax and fuel bills and I think that you would be constantly scrabbling.

That’s assuming that you can borrow that much in the first place!

Will there ever be a point that your partner can contribute?

Thank you for all of the replies so far, partner earns same as me so combined income is around 6k, he pays most of the bills eg gas and electric, car costs, half food shopping, mobile phones etc, he also needs to service some debt which I don't have so household costs are generally even

So far I have paid the small mortgage cost but if we get a bigger property with larger expected mortgage then DP will also contribute more to that

This is about right though for number 4) mortgage likely to be £2700pm on a £500k property according to the broker

Not your question, but you say DP rather than DH - please ensure you protect yourself if taking on a bigger financial commitment together, particularly if you’ve been paying mortgage yourself.

OP wouldn't get a mortgage, when it's 2/3 of their monthly income.

I'd still move out of London to a cheaper area of the country. Children are adaptable and your eldest child could move before Year 9. After that they start the now 3 years GCSE courses in many schools. So they can move in years 7 or 8.