Nursery costs in London, any tips?

[amd94jgkap3nvpoa3p10dnpaddo0]

Hi there, I'm currently pregnant with our first child and I've looked into childcare costs in Bow, London where we live and have been shocked at the prices coming back - e.g. this morning - £1580 per month (plus an 18 month waiting list so we'd have to apply now). This is not far off our mortgage. My husband and I are on reasonable, professional salaries - or so I thought - but this cost is enormous.

We normally have about £1000 left over each month after bills/living costs etc which we'd normally put towards holidays etc but we bought our first flat in late 2018 and every penny over the past 1.5 years has gone into costs associated with this as it was a neglected ex-council flat in Bow (East London) so we have no savings and there are still house-related things we'd need to do or pay for before the baby is due. Also, we'd need to somehow need to save an extra £580 from our normal living expenses just to pay for nursery. We already don't have a car, rarely eat etc so I'm not sure where this money will come from.

We have no grandparents who could support with childcare. Are there any better options out there? I feel like we're taking on the impossible trying to have a child in London. We considered moving out back in 2018 when we bought our flat but we're not from the UK originally and if we left London we'd have zero friends or support network. Also, there are few jobs in our fields outside of London. I'm also now 40 (it took almost 20 years to get on the property ladder with current house prices) so it's not like we can put it off until we're earning higher salaries.

Any help appreciated, we don't know anyone with children in London.

Thanks!

@amd94jgkap3nvpoa3p10dnpaddo0 OP is your mortgage more than £1500 per month? My DH and I have a combined income of £74k so a lot lower than you, mortgage for our 2 bed zone 3 London flat os £1020, spending is another £1k-2k so we have an average of £1k left. Not enough for childcare at the moment but if we increased salaries to £100k combined, we would make it.

But we still earn less than you. Is it possible to extend your mortgage term.

@Desiringonlychild long time since my original post! With everything else going on it feels like so long ago. Our mortgage is £1830 so quite a lot more than yours. We then have about £450 in direct debit bills, £600 in student debt payments (we're Australian so our student debts are huge, like the US), then food, transport, all other variables on top.

We're actually on a mortgage holiday now due to coronavirus income loss. Our term is still 23.5 years so extending would mean extending beyond retirement age so not sure if this is possible. We're still in a fixed 5 year period so this may also be an issue.

I think actually with coronavirus our best bet is probably to leave London and work remotely from somewhere cheaper if that's an option. Mind you with a baby due in September and a potential second wave/national lockdown coming, not to mention Brexit, this is probably the perfect storm of the worst time to sell ever! :S

@amd94jgkap3nvpoa3p10dnpaddo0 I wish you the best of luck!:) there is actually a temporary uplift in housing demand due to stamp duty holiday so it may be the best time to sell.

Sorry didn't look at the thread postings, I have been feeling broody so was stressing about how to afford childcare. Really want a baby but realistically have to wait until wedding is over and earnings improve.

I would stop the overpaying now... we saved as much as possible...

Both request flexible working... read up on parental rights.... I would except a charity to be more flexible but all employers must consider and if your dh firm has done for female staff then they should for him ...

he should be getting out of the habit of answering emails at the weekend..

Don't work for free...unless it's your own business you both need boundaries..with employers

Make sure you start as equally important parents..often women's careers are impacted adversely

Look at council website if will list most childcare options

Most I know did either compressed/ drop to 4 days / tax options/childminder and credit cards for other stuff just hang on til 3year old funding comes in ... and park financial planning for a bit!
None of us had family help...I'm always amazed how many on mnet do

Hey OP

We are in a brilliant nursery called Angels in the Park in E9

Or is £1239 for 4 long days up to 2 years as then £1050 for over 2

Very affordable once they hit 3

We love it there! I had a nanny share before but we hit issues and it wasn’t any cheaper plus I was left with no childcare when it fell apart and that cost me in terms of not being able to work fully for months (I’m self employed) ...

I think over 1500 does sound like a lot

I'm in Manchester and my nursery is 1350 a month. It's the norm I'm afraid. Others in our area are only slightly cheaper than that.

My dd is at a nursery attached to an independent school which worked out cheaper. They also split the cost so each day per week is approx 20% - if you do more days it works out slightly cheaper as a daily rate. I also dropped my working hours to 4 days per week - The money I’ve lost is the portion that was taxed at higher rate, and my pension % contribution lowered so although I’ve cut my hours to 80%, my salary is more like 90%.

It does sound like your best bet is to sell and get somewhere cheaper. That’s a very high mortgage.