Size over location? (thinking ahead for when we can afford to buy in the SE)

[Marghe87]

My husband and I only just started TTC (nothing is happening yet...) and are currently renting a lovely 2 bedroom flat just outside London in an area we both love so much.
We are nowhere near being ready for a deposit yet and if DC does come along, it will take us a few more years before we are able to put aside some more, which would correspond to our DC already being at school.

Now, I totally appreciate this is thinking WELL ahead but I cannot help starting to plan our future in my head now that I know there might be a child with us (hopefully) soon. We are so happy here and the idea of moving our child at school age or worse, in the middle of school year, scares me quite a lot, but the only properties we might be able to afford here in a few years are 2 bed conversion flats.

I reckon the same money would get us a bigger house somewhere else but right now I am thinking I would compromise on size in order to stay in a better location.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do?

Yes, we are pretty much obsessed with home ownership in the U.K.
Tenants are considered second class citizens here. I hate that.
Of course it's perfectly acceptable to rent with children, rent long term... many (most?) people do.
It's just that if you have a choice - which you imply that you might - then on balance, logically, trying to buy before children is sensible.
But life rarely goes to plan!!

That’s fine then - you won’t need a house then - the 2 bed conversion it is then - all sorted!!

Btw we had a baby before we bought a flat, lived there a couple of years then rented a house (different area).
Agree that flat is not ideal with a baby. Major ball ache with stairs etc and noisy upstairs neighbours.

Why can't you afford now? You say that you both have jobs. There's Home to Buy, there's shared ownership etc The options are there.

Help to buy

We live in a beautiful building with a lift and have tons of green and parks around the area and lots of children live there, I really don't see the struggle when the baby is still small.
But then maybe it's because I wasn't raised here and will never understand this obsession of having a house with garden at all costs.

@EssentialHummus I have a full time professional job, definitely don't have time and/or energy to get another random job in the evenings and weekend.

@JoJoSM2 it really surprises me that people won't take "we can't afford to buy now" as an answer.

Get into debt, buy a crappy property in an area you don't like, do shared ownership etc... everything in most people mind seem to be better than just renting a lovely place for another 5-6 years to then buy. I don't get it. And certainly won't start justifying my reasons or share a detailed report of current savings with the rest of the forum.
Seems impossible to have an open minded conversation about this topic with people in this forum as most only seem to see one way forward without even considering other nuances in life.

We live in a beautiful building with a lift and have tons of green and parks around the area and lots of children live there, I really don't see the struggle when the baby is still small.

Super, problem solved. Stay where you are and take your chances.

I have a full time professional job, definitely don't have time and/or energy to get another random job in the evenings and weekend.

I'm an ex-lawyer. When I was saving for my flat (not in the dim and distant past, all of five years ago) as a trainee I took in proofreading work and similar at weekends. Everything went into the pot so I could buy sooner. And as soon as I bought I installed a lodger in the spare room (...which you have...) to pay down the mortgage. It's nothing you have to do, but the decisions I took meant that I could buy faster and trade up when it came time to start a family. To me it seems foolish to rent a place larger and more expensive than you need when you are trying to save for your own home.

@EssentialHummus fair enough. We all have different needs and desires. I don't judge your choices, nor should you judge mine.

I know I will buy a property one day, but it is not such an essential need for me right now to push me to compromise the (little) free time I have with my husband and quality of life just so I can buy a place 5-6 years earlier.

But well done you for doing what you did, I am sure you felt it was the right thing at the time.

Agree with hummus and other posters here than it is much better to buy before you have children, they are sooo expensive, costs just come out of nowhere so it makes it a lot harder to save. A friend of mine saved up a deposit for a lovely 2 bed flat in Peckham near the overground in 5 years by her and her boyfriend sharing a 2 bed flat with another couple in an area they did not like and wasn't great (cheap area) but the rent was super cheap and divided by 4 rather than 2. She absolutely hated it at the time and it was super cramped but so worth it in the long run, she had her own place by 27. Usually when saving you don't have a 2 bed to yourselves or live in an expensive area, but I totally get wanting to and why you're there, day to day it's much nicer.
Obviously it's better to be in a house than a flat when baby comes but if you like the place you are currently in and have enough storage then it could definitely work and I'm sure you would be happy there. It's just I don't see you being able to save at the same rate once the baby comes unless you get a lodger in/decrease your outgoings by moving somewhere smaller. Seriously babies are so expensive!! Good luck with whatever you decide xx

I also did a similar thing by tutoring gcse and a level students at weekends (did my degree in languages so can teach these at lower level) and it's pretty good money, about £30 per hour. You say you're from Europe so presumably speak another European language so this could be a good little money earlier for you, just 2 hours over the weekend wouldn't make a lot of difference but would make you £240 extra per month equivalent to about a £5k annual salary increase x

I don't understand your dilemma. You obviously are in no hurry to buy a property, you love where you live, it has a lift and plenty of open space around it and a 2nd bedroom if/when you have a baby, you are scathing about the UK's obsession with buying rather than renting - so why the angst? Just stay where you are and don't buy.

There, sorted it for you.

Can't say I totally understand either, you are not bothered about getting on the property ladder anytime soon and are happy renting where you are then problem solved, you sound happy there! Should be ok in a flat with a baby as long as you have storage (ikea do a large range of cheap and cheerful storage options).
I would think a bit harder if you are looking to get into the property ladder soon though.

Also I think people in the UK get on the properly ladder ASAP as it's just quite drilled into us and in the majority of cases it's the best investment you will ever make unless you're a real dab hand at playing the stock market (I am not). I bought a place in 2013 in south London which has pretty much doubled in value so that cash increase tax free is more than I would have made in 10 years worth of salary and has really set me up for the future. The road to get there was NOT easy especially when I was younger on a lower salary and while my friends were renting beautiful places in lovely areas I was most definitely not but I'm so glad I did it!

Problem with saving for a property especially somewhere like London is that you can't have your cake and eat it... the saving part is always horrible, you won't rent somewhere nice, you won't like the area, you will live with far more people that you want to and it's just bad times really. I'm glad I did it when I was younger and had no responsibilities and no one to impress but myself.

If you are saving 1k per month cash pre-baby and to be generous let's say you save £800 post baby then assuming you qualify for a 75% loan-to-value mortgage it will take you a LONG time to save a deposit at your current rate, especially taking into account inflation, increasing house prices etc.

There is no pressure or judgement to buy, if you don't want to and are happy forever renting then that's totally fine and you will have a lovely life.

Well you asked...

You just don't like the answers.

If you can't afford to buy now, why are you so sure you will in the future. I was just giving you my honest experience. Kids are very expensive.

I love my son and wouldn't be without him, but he made it very difficult and we've had to sacrifice a lot to become homeowners. It would have been much easier had we waited.

If that's the way you want to do it then that's obviously fine it's your choice. But it's not something I would choose again.