Moving house for more options

[anonforthespies43267]

Second post of the day and wasn’t sure where to put this.

So after being told yesterday a month before mat leave my job will change when I go back, including less WFH & possibly more travel which means our nursery choice isn’t practical.

We live semi rurally, about 25 min on a clear run from family with limited childcare options nearby.

We only bought our house 3.5 years ago, we do love it but it’s old and takes a lot of upkeep. We also go away most weekends in summer to our caravan.

Have a good amount of equity in the house & could move closer to family and town with more childcare options and have half the mortgage. Currently in a lovely detached with big garden and nice walks for dogs but would mean downsizing to semi detached closer to town in a busier street.

WWYD?

Sis could help with drop offs and pick ups if we moved and long term school runs. We would struggle to get much help where we are now.

I wouldn't move with a vague plan of "getting much more help family". I think any plan to do something so drastic as selling up and moving areas would have to be based on much more solid reasons.
I wouldn't want to go back to a semi after living in a detatched, but I would like the idea of a smaller mortgage and more child care options.

What you've put in your OP seems a bit like 2 extremes.
Do you need to halve your mortgage? Does moving into the town have to mean such a smaller house ? I like the convenience of a town myself, and like the idea of having family back up closeby for those days when standard childcare doesn't work out for some reason, but is there not a compromise?

@BackforGood sorry missed your reply yesterday. There is somewhere in the middle but price wise but you don’t get any more space unless we increased our mortgage which I won’t do. The price is generally determined by the street and any of the bigger & nicer houses don’t have parking & seem to all be terraced.
Think I was having a very stressful day hence the extremes.
I just love living where we do and don’t want to move but equally don’t want to ruin my career for limited childcare options x

Smaller mortgage would win for me every time. With nothing else in the mix I'd pick that in a heartbeat.

You might want to consult someone of legality/options with the employer making your life more difficult after maternity leave. It seems a bit unreasonable of them. Generally, employers often try to make life a little easier rather than difficult for new mums if possible.

@JoJoSM2 it’s due to structural changes in a large financial organisation rather than on an individual basis unfortunately. As things will be changing when I am on mat leave no one knows what it’ll look like in 12 months time or what my role will look like at the moment.

Would a nanny work out better ?

What area do you live in

Many Nannies usually happy/will drive 30mins for a job

Moving to a smaller house might not be the best idea

If both of you plan on having a proper career, then you might need a nanny as babies/toddlers can get ill quite often and you'll need reliable childcare and long hours. Things like school runs won't come into it for a few years so I'd just stay put for now.