To give up a rent-free flat for a more baby-friendly home?

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I’m in the very early stages of pregnancy and DH and I are starting to think ahead. We live in a lovely SW London flat owned by family (no mortgage/rent, can stay as long as we like, but it’s not ours to keep or sell).

It’s perfect for us as a couple but not too baby friendly (2nd floor, no lift, nowhere to leave a buggy - though we do have a car outside). It’s a 2 bed but the second room is small (my office at the moment) and DH works in the living room, so space would be tight once a baby arrives.

Staying means minimal outgoings, which would make mat leave and future work decisions much easier. But if we want a proper family home in the area, we’d need to take on a big mortgage even on top of all our savings. We don’t want to move out of area as work and families are all here.

We’d like more than one DC, so moving and big mortgage is inevitable at some point. AIBU to think we should just go for it now, or would it be madness to give up our current situation before we absolutely have to?

In your situation I would stay put as long as possible, for me that would be untill DC 2 was on his way 😊 but I would use that time well and look around for a larger place. You're in no hurry so can watch and listen and read announcements, probably learn a lot from other parents in mother&baby clubs too! A good social network is important when you're house-hunting، Sometimes all you need is the right information on the right moment!

Save now for a huge deposit

you could save for 2yrs while preg and first year then move

I'd stay in the flat for as long as you can whilst being semi-comfortable.

We never had any free housing (apart from living with our parents before going to uni) but our main moves were: living in a 1 bed as a couple > 2 bed when 7 months pregnant with our first child > moved to a house when we had a 3 and 1 year old.

I love having space but if I had an option to stay at a 2 bed for free I'd definitely consider downsizing even with 2 children for a year or 2!

I was in a similar situation, we stayed for a year after the baby was born - we moved to our new home as I returned to work.

There were a couple of things made a difference for us in terms of timing. I am not in the uk however, so these may not apply for you.

Firstly, I was not able to draw down a mortgage while on the unpaid part of my maternity leave, so could only purchase our home once I was back on full pay (but on annual leave for 2 months at the end). Secondly, because of the high cost of childcare where I am, our mortgage amount was restricted, they reduced our income amount to be considered by at least 1k a month.

While it sounds like the obvious choice is to stay and save as long as possible, it may be worth checking with a broker that having the baby in any paid care will not impact on the amount you can borrow, and therefore make the extra savings redundant.

Madness. Stay rent free as long as you can every penny you would have paid in rent can go in your savings.

Can you rent a space in a shared office/hub and free up some space in the flat for now?

Too many unknowns just now to make decisions.

Stay and put by the amount of money you’d need to put into a mortgage and see if you can really afford it.

I would stay where you are for a couple of years and save as much as you can. Store the buggy in the car. It’s a slight faff getting baby up and down stairs but totally do-able (get a sling to give you hands free for bags). Living in a flat with a toddler is actually much easier than a house in many ways (I have done both). All on one level, easy to keep an eye on. Less baby proofing needed once baby is on the move. Worth the minor faff of getting up and down stairs imo.

Depends whether the house price inflation in the area you are looking in is outstripping the rate at which you can save for a property. Some areas of London are always buoyant.

You’d be amazed how little you need for a baby if you don’t have the space to fill. My husband and I had a baby in a one bed flat (mortgaged) - we wanted a family but weren’t ready to move and knew it we could make it work. Changing table in the lounge, pram lived in the car, bouncer was a folding one, crib in our room, playmat on the lounge floor, ikea storage for toys.
Was absolutely fine - in fact it was brilliant not having to look after a larger house with a small baby! She slept in with our room (didn’t sleep through till she was 4 so was easier to have her in with us anyway. Moved into her own room as soon as we moved with no problems). It made us savvy with making sure her toys, clothing and bits were the essentials and we had a lot less pointless stuff. People also bought us a lot less pointless stuff as they knew we didn’t have the room! It also encouraged me to go out more and we spent lots of time outdoors which was great for us both. Covid hit when she was 6 months old and we managed okay.

We moved when she was 15 months old. It all worked out perfectly. If I was in your position I absolutely would stay put until baby is at least a year!