Mortgages while on Mat Leave

[SanFrancisco49er]

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help with some impartial advice!
We put a deposit down on a new build in February which was due to complete in the Autumn, will now probably be in the New Year.
We are trying to decide to go ahead or not- developer will not lower price at all but we may get some extras on top of what we've already been offered.
However, I am now pregnant and if we leave buying a house for now, we may have to apply for a mortgage while I'm on mat leave. I currently work FT and at most, only want to return to work 2 days a week after mat leave.
So we're weighing up, do we buy the house and risk it dropping significantly in price before we've even moved in or do we drop out, wait but then not be able to apply for as good a mortgage in say a years time when ill be on Mat Leave?
Other considerations - the developer is paying our stamp duty and legal fees so if we drop out we may not get this deal elsewhere (new build or not) and we would also have to find the money on top of a potentially reduced mortgage offer.
Im going round in circles and dont know what is wisest decision. If we did buy now, we would go for 5 year fixed rate as husband job pretty secure and we could ride a price drop out hopefully. Its not our forever house, its a step on the ladder for us.
Can anyone help advise?

You will be able to apply on mat leave, but will have your new two day week income and a dependent/childcare costs taken into consideration.

Also, typically new houses lose value in the first couple of years due to snagging issues etc.
Is it likely to be a long term home? And can you afford the mortgage payments on your new reduced salary?

We can afford the mortgage payments on a reduced salary as we planned ahead for that and went for a slightly cheaper house with a view to starting a family. We know new builds lose value a little but as we can choose when to move in the future we planned to stay until house prices worked in our favour. We couldnt have forseen the potential economic crash now possibly coming and along with it, a potential house price crash.
I think we will ask for a deposit contribution in lieu of a price drop and go from there. I've also requested the est completion date and the long stop date to give us a fuller picture of what's happening.
Thank you for your replies, even just writing it all down helps!

We brought our house while I was pregnant with DC1. Our broker knew I was pregnant and taking maternity leave (although going back FT). He placed us with Halifax who I understand is one of the 'easier' mainstream lenders. Childcare costs weren't even taken into consideration.

Our broker was worth every penny as he really knew his stuff.

It's not really about what you can afford in repayments, it's about what they will lend you with a reduced income and childcare costs.

Getting a mortgage when pregnant is fill very different to getting one when on mat leave with reduced working hours and childcare bill.

Presumably you have a mortgage offer in place?
If you pull out of the new build will you get your deposit back etc? If so can you not find another house to buy to get you on the property ladder? One that won't drop in value...

Do you know you can afford the repayments as they are currently set and know you could afford them if they were to increase significantly after your fixed term is up (so we know that if we had to, we could pay double our mortgage; life would be miserable but interest rates are so low so there's only one way for them to go so projecting forward, if they doubled, we could make it work and that's important to recognise; it's a bad idea to max yourself out with repayments at this interest rate)?
In my opinion, buying a house is a long term investment and getting on the ladder is the most tricky part. Mortgages are already far more difficult to get hold of for first time buyers than they were pre-covid so add to the mix that you'll be on maternity leave and have childcare to factor in, unless you have a very strong deposit, you may not get this opportunity so easily again. House prices may very likely crash but in all likelihood, they'll bounce back again and being in negative equity is only a problem if you want to move as long as you can still afford your repayments. If your plan was to move in a handful of years anyway and you know this house is not going to be suitable for your family in a few years time then it probably isn't the right time to buy but if you know you could live there happily and comfortably for 10 years or so then why now. God knows what house prices will be doing by then.