WWYD?

[AmberTH12]

Basically I need help with deciding whether to move or not.

currently we live in a small 3 bed terrace, it’s a bit of a squeeze and ideally I’d like another child in the future so would be even more of a squeeze then but possibly doable. I love our house, I love the layout and I love the garden. We’ve done a lot of work on it but there’s still a lot that needs to be done too. Cons are, it’s a terrace so noise can be an issue, there’s no access to back garden from the street, there’s no off street parking, the neighbourhood isn’t the best… lots of social housing so we have some drug issues and anti social behaviour but we’ve never had any problems ourselves. Our neighbours are absolutely lovely and we get on well with both sides.
ideally I’d like to move to a semi with a driveway with a bit more space… however this would mean doubling our mortgage, we currently pay a very comfortable £700 a month and are set to be mortgage free in 20 years. If we moved to a bigger house we’d be paying around £1200 a month which is a massive difference.

so Wwyd? I think my main concern is the area in which we live, we’re close to a major city so crime tends to be higher but with 2 small kids to raise I want them to grow up in a nicer area but is it worth it?

If you can afford it, move. It depends entirely on your financial situation.

I would live in the nicest place I could afford.

Why ?

1 If an area is not particularly nice today it will only get worse. Gentrification only happens when a property market is booming.

2 Crime will get worse.

3 Sadly, resources flow to the areas that are “nice” as the residents are more likely to have the time and skills to lobby for them. Our politicians live in the “nice” areas.

As for feeling financially comfortable. Well, inflation will be high for years to come. Your income will rise with inflation or hopefully at a higher rate. The value of your loan is fixed or reducing. So in 10-12 years time your £1200 payment will feel as comfortable as £700 today.