Do we earn enough to have a good life in Bishops Stortford

[Pizfufffff]

Hi everyone, me and my partner are in our late 20s and have a 5 month old baby. We currently live in London but are looking to move out into nearby towns to have a better quality of life. We have kind of decided on Bishops Stortford as it is easy to drive to see Family. We currently own a flat in London with a mortgage on a very low interest rate but our rate will end in a year and our repayments will more than double. We are planning to rent it out but will likely just about break even. Our combined income after tax is £5500. After necessary outgoings we generally have around £4000 left a month. Is that enough to have a decent life in Bishops Stortford? Is the cost of living cheaper up there or do you recommend moving further out. We will be buying a house wherever we move, we currently have a budget of 350k as we want to keep mortgage payments low. We would like to have 3 bedrooms and a small garden

I am not sure if I have posted in the correct forum

I could be wrong but CoL I think is more for people who have the opposite problem of you, ie, struggling to make ends meet. Perhaps contact MNHQ and ask them to move it? Maybe to Chat or Money Matters?

Yes sorry I've just joined the forum and after posting had a look around and realised I'd posted in the wrong place! I will ask admin to move it now :)

Thanks admin for moving!

You're asking if you can live on £1k a week?

We manage on a £1k a month - with two kids.

Hi OP,

I have friends live in the Bishops Stortford area. I think you'd struggle to get a 3 bed house for £350k.

To answer your other questions,

Bishops Stortford is a commuter town, what sort of cost of living aspects are you considering?

Definitely struggle to get 3 bedrooms for £350,000. Lots of big estates being built around the town and are quite pricey now.

It’s in the heart of SE so COL will be as high anywhere else in the SE. 350k for 3 bedrooms will be a struggle (there’s only three on rightmove in that bracket and none of them are particularly great). Also, do you need to commute because train fares will be high and if you need childcare there, that will also be very high.

Do you really want the responsibility of being landlords? Have you considered the Capital Gains Tax implications of owning two properties? The law is changing around 2028 so that properties will need an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above to be rented out.

Whilst you'll struggle to buy a house for 350k in that area I certainly don't think you'll struggle on £1k disposable income a week!

Thankyou! I am thinking I may have to settle for a two bed that we can maybe extend down the line hopefully. I just want to keep the monthly mortgage repayments as low as possible and the interest rates at the moment have scared me!

True. I fear I have been silly thinking just because we have picked slightly out of London we would magically get our dream home. I needed a reality check!

We were thinking childcare, transport, general going out etc etc.

If you end up in a two bed is it really worth moving out? Most people move for more
space but suspect you won’t necessarily find that for £350k in a prime commuter town. What is your flat currently worth? could you not sell to get a bigger house when you move out?