Can we afford private school?

[Minimalistmamaoftwo]

Hi,
I want to get a sense of whether we can afford to send our 2 (potentially 3) children to private school.
Ideally I would want to send them from 8-16. We currently have a household income of £100k, I am at home with the children. By the time my eldest is 8 this should be around £180k due to my husbands guaranteed promotion and me going back to work. This should rise to around £220k around five years later and probably peak there. We also have two properties worth around £450,000 with equity of £300k which currently net us £13,000 a year in rent. We also own our own (mortgaged) home. Fees for the schools in our area range from £10-17,000 per annum.
Is this manageable? Many thanks

IMO you’re underestimating your financial situation / potential. If you have a 3rd, who goes to state school until 8-11 as well, the costs will be staggered. You probably will afford the costs without selling rental property and your incomes might be higher than expected in 5 years. I wouldn’t sell up rental properties and lose that income stream unless it becomes necessary - see it as a backup plan. You even said in an absolute bind you could have a relative pay a term’s fees, something you wouldn’t want, but does show you are very well covered if you did need to sell a rental property. You also could restructure mortgages etc.

I wouldn’t consider sending one and not the others. There could be resentment about different outcomes in the long term, or the 1st could feel there was something wrong with them that they needed special treatment.

I also wouldn’t restrict yourselves to not having a 3rd child if you want one, not at your income levels and flexibility. I’d expect you’d regret not going for it in the long run.

I went to private school age 5-16 but chose to move to a specific 6th form which wasn’t private. So fees won’t necessarily be up to 18. With what you’ve said about your 2nd they might stay private to 18, or might choose to switch to a different specialist college or vocational college.