How do people do it?

[MrsHapus]

Lucky enough to live in a nice, sought after area in a 3 bed semi. 2 young kids with the end of nursery fees in sight, and have had childcare help from family. So although we're looking forward to the end of fees, they haven't been crippling!

Bought our house in 2018 for £250k with a £30k deposit.
my salary is roughly £40k and £15k bonus
DH salary is about the same- £58k pa

Because of bonuses, we have managed to pay off some of the mortgage and now have ~£155k left

Managed to secure a 2.3% mortgage which we have for the next 3.5 years

However, we want a bigger house with more space. With the rising costs of houses and interest rates higher than what we have, I just can't see how it's doable.

In our area, the average price for a 4 bed house in an ok state is easily £550k. Some are even more despite needing considerable work.

I know that we aren't in a terrible position, but how are people moving up the property ladder? The figures just aren't making sense. Can someone shed some light about how to afford it at the moment?

Have either of you a prospect of making a leap up at work? You need a greater pot of income to get you to the next level. It’s great that you’ve reduced your mortgage but with a low interest rate, should your focus now be on saving?

Please tell me who the 2.3% mortgage is with???

The days of 2.3% mortgages are gone, so it doesn't matter who it's with; the OP says that they have it for 3.5 years so they will be halfway through a longer fix - probably a 10 year fix that they took in 2018 (6.5 years ago).

Mortgage rates are a lot higher now as interest rates went up a lot over the last couple of years. They were cut today for the first time since 2020, so things are looking up slightly, but you still won't find a 2.3% mortgage. However, I have seen that there is one lender (maybe Nationwide?) offering a 3.99% rate now.