To consider moving house

[Wigwambamboozler]

Looking for some advice from people who might be more experienced in moving and buying property. Or from someone who may have been in a similar position and could share there foresight.

We currently live in the south east of England where property prices are pretty expensive. This means that our house is in a nice area, however it isn’t the biggest.
(2 double bedrooms, 1 single). We have 2 young children and space is becoming an issue (small lounge, feels like no matter how much we declutter, there's not enough room for everything).

A house has come up for sale in a village near us. It is really spacious and has everything we would want in a house. It's pretty much perfect and ticks all our boxes.

A big problem is, the primary schools aren’t in the outstanding catchment area that we live in currently and we'd have no way of getting into any of them from there. It's a less desirable postcode (different county from our current home). Hence how we could afford this particular property.

Our current position is that we are mortgage free with around 100k in savings. I am currently a SAHM and will be until my eldest goes to school in a couple of years. Therefore, buying a new house would mean taking out a mortgage of about 100-125k.

Would you do it? Or would you hold off until the kids are in the outstanding primary school and move then?
(Secondary schools aren't an issue as my husband is a teacher in an outstanding school and they will be able to attend there when the time comes).

Ofsted rating aren’t the be all and end all. What are the school’s results like? Reputation? Go and have a look and get a feel for them.

You want to get your DC into the Outstanding School then move them out of Catchment area ?
Is that even do-able .
Won;t it be a pain if you need to travel more

With schools in London closing there will be more demand and if the VAT in Private Schools is enforced again more demand as people move their DC .

TBH in your shoes I;d extend . ( Loft / Rear extension. Both )

My house is 2xdouble + a box room type ( M/F DC) It's a squeeze but the thought of selling and moving filled me with dread . We did a rear extension didn't need the loft done .
(I;m also in the SE )

I’d say to keep your house and enjoy being mortgage free. Make savings and see in a few years how you feel about moving. This other house might need a lot doing to it and bills will be higher too because it’s bigger.

What about building an extension on your home?

I’d speak to a mortgage broker as a first step. With interest rate rises and cost of living increases, most lenders have really tightened their affordability criteria: someone who’s the sole earner for their household on a teacher’s salary with three dependents (a non-working wife and two small children) to support may actually struggle more than you think to raise even a relatively small mortgage.

I wouldn’t worry too much about using Ofsted ratings to base where you live. Even if you do think they actually mean a great deal, they can change within a couple of years for better or worse. By the time your DC are school age your current area’s schools could be downgraded just as any other area’s could be upgraded.

I moved to be near an outstanding primary school (away from the catchment of a good one).

Still very happy with the local school but slightly disappointed it has since been downgraded to good! On the other hand like you the eventual outstanding secondary school is the main goal.

@Wigwambamboozler Move after you secure a place in your target primary for your eldest. You will then be able to keep that place even if you move out of catchment.

Beware that ofsted ratings change over time and that most outstanding schools haven't been inspected for a very long time (as being judged as outstanding made them exempt from inspection) so many of them go down a rank or two once they are finally inspected.

Re: the house - as PP have said, now is not a good time to take out a mortgage as interest rates are higher and will likely never be as low as they have been for the foreseeable future.

Being mortgage free is a blessing. Keep saving - and do a tidy up and think about ways to tweak your layout to give you more room (smaller sofas, otomons for storage, shelving units to use vertical wall space, etc). Moving should be your last resort!