should we move into rental?

[1500mmania]

we had an offer on our flat back in November and put two offers in on houses but both have fallen through for a variety of reasons (we seem to be looking in SE london along with the rest of London and pries have rocketed since we have started looking). Our buyers mortgage offer runs out in April (& she has had a baby so is unlikely to be able to get another mortgage) so we are going to lose them if we don't move into rental.

Just to confuse matters I'm pregnant with the second and due in October - my DH thinks our curent flat is too small for 2 DC - I think it will be tight but doable in the shortterm.

DH wants to rent and i don't - but really unsure. Can you help me make the decision

Pros of moving into rental

1. we would become chain free for buying a new house and therefore more likely to be able to get somewhere
2. we would have more space
3. we would have sold our flat for a tidy profit
4. we won't have to pay the solicitors £800 for the sale falling through

Cons

1. Rental will cost more than our current mortgage (prob a good £300 more per month for the extra bedroom)
2. risk of going into rental accomodation - not being stable/ settled with a new baby/ risk of being chucked out of property at the end of year contract etc
3. stress of moving twice with a small family
4. stress of moving area whilst heavily pregnant
5. feeling like we have taken a step back on the property ladder

I am also beginning to feel that maybe a move out of london would be good and I am therefore having cold feet about lumbering ourselves witha massive mortgage for a three bedroom house. A move out of london wouln't be possible for at least 18 months etc

What do you think? I have suggested to Dh that we stay in our current flat and have baby there but then could move into rental at a later date if needed (would need to find new buyers though) but DH is deadset against being in our flat when the new baby arrives.

I am exhausted and so stressed - I don't know what to do - any advice

We moved into rental with a similar set of considerations. Don't regret it at all.

One downside though is that you become fussier when looking for the next house to buy! It's not like being in a sell/buy chain where once you've found a buyer you choose the best house available for sale. Because you haven't the same time pressure I think it makes you fussier.

We moved into rental intending for 6 months and have keept choosing to extend and now been there >18 months. Glad we didn't choose to lose our buyer. No other flats in our block have managed to sell in that 18 months!

do it. Moving twice is of course a lot of hassle, and you have to pay storage etc -but it makes you the buyer of choice, it certainly got us our dream home.

pick a rental that isn't the landlord's home, then you are most unlikely to have to leave before you are ready.

House prices in London are continuing to go up. And as much as going into rental put you in a great position to proceed. It's also a disadvantage as you don't have a foot in the market iykwim. At worst stay put, a baby doesn't need that much for the first 6 months.

We hesitated buying a bigger flat.10-12 months later when we finally decided to take the plunge prices had rocketed to a point where we simply couldn't afford a sizeable flat for our pretty decent budget. 2 bed flats that were going for 560k are now nearer 720k. I must add that the area that we live in (london) is a complete bubble in terms of supply and demand.

We were in exactly your position a year ago - had a buyer for ages and our house purchase fell through and there was very little else coming on the market. We're also in London, and meanwhile prices were going up. I was also pregnant with dc2 and we were in a one-bedroom flat so staying put for any length of time wasn't really an option.

Renting didn't appeal for all the reasons you've stated. Fortunately for us, we found a place to buy at the very last minute. Our offer was accepted and I had ds2 a couple of days later. In hindsight, I'm really glad that we didn't go into rental as we wouldn't be able to afford to buy a house like ours now as everything's selling for around 30-40k more than we paid, and going quickly too. Because of all this though, we knew that if it came down to it, we would find another buyer quickly and possibly for more money. If you're selling and buying in the same area, presumably the same would apply to you?