We are ttc baby no 1 at the moment. Original plan had been to move out of London due to crazy house prices but I have lived here all my life and am really struggling with the idea of leaving. We are renting at the moment but will buy when our lease ends next April. Not quite sure what our budget will end up being but it is likely to be somewhere around the 350-400k mark (400k would be absolute max). I am open to different areas but quite like Forest Hill/Brockley/Cystal Palace where I am confident we could get a 2 bedroom flat for our money.
My DH is on about 80k plus decent annual bonus and we expect his wage to go up in the next couple of years. I am on less than half that amount and it was always my intention to be a SAHM at least while kids are young (although I know I may well end up changing my mind!). My question to you is do you think this is doable in London? We are not particularly extravagant; we usually go on one big foreign holiday a year interspersed with cheaper and smaller breaks in the UK, I cook at home most days although we do eat out probably once a week on average, we don't own a car and if we stay in London we probably won't get one at all. We live a comfortable life at the moment and I am currently doing a Master's degree which takes a big chunk of my salary so actually we mainly live off DH's wages already. However my parents were always really financially stretched growing up and now my DM really struggles on her own (divorced about 10 years ago). I don't want to be in the same position. Not asking to live mega comfortably or anything, just don't want to have to worry about money every month.
Really grateful for any advice or insight you might have. London is my home and I'm very reluctant to leave it and move elsewhere where I have no existing friends or family, however I will not put that over financial security when it comes down to it.
Thank you!