Pregnant.. do we buy bigger now or wait until after maternity leave

[Minniemee]

Hi there,

Looking for a bit of advice.

My partner and I wanted to buy a bigger house as a step up from our first hone towards spring this year ( have affordability checked this this at the minute on both our wages) but I have found out now I'm actually pregnant.

We are able to live in our current home (a new build small 3 bed) with a young baby no problem, but the space issue will come as soon as they find their feet!

So our dilemma is, are we better to buy before the baby comes and just accept things will be tougher on maternity pay with an extra £400 mortgage, or do we wait until I am back at work full after maternity and then buy- would this quote significantly impact the money we could borrow?

Thanks for your help.

@JeffreysWorkTrousers thank you so much for that detailed post and all that advice, that helps so much!

I'm an assistant head at an independent school so luckily we won't have to pay for school holiday care on top of things as I'll be off , and ideally they will go to the school I am at as we get fee remission so we aren't tied to a particular area for housing, which means we would literally only be moving for extra space, to have a house that belongs to both of us and that is in a more villag'y location out of the city and nearer to the in laws!

"I earn more than my OH so we are going to take quite a hit already"

Do shared parental leave, then - you could take 6 months each.

I'm torn. I think if you want to move to a better location you should probably move now. If it's just to get more space maybe wait.

@AnotherEmma exactly how I feel, torn between which is the more sensible approach! I'm actually only planning on taking 6 months then I'm going to go back to work and OH has said if we decide after that then he would be happy to take a couple of months, but like so many other posters have said on here that's what I'm saying before they're here and I know how I'll truly feel!

id move tbh.

i did heavily pregnant, not fun but do-able (and single)!, bought, mortgaged etc, anything is possible if you want it enough.

Now moving with toddler, single still. Scares the shit out of me but as they say YOLO (!). Its on your mind, if you dont move asap you will be frustrated!

I was only planning on taking 8 months, then I had a child with a disability unexpectedly and needed to take two years. I'm not saying that's what will happen in your case but you do need to prepare for a late or partial return to work.

We waited did just over a year in a two bad flat with a newborn. I put the flat on the market towards the end of mat leave which was great as had the time have estate agents round etc. It also meant the last part of mat leave was spent being able to view houses at any time which was definitely a bonus

@SallyCinnamon3009 did you need to be back at work for 3 months following maternity leave before you could get a mortgage?

No I just told the mortgage company what I would be earning. The new mortgage didn't actually complete till I was back so I just got everything rolling in the last two months. Had the time to do everything but knew I would be back earning by the time everything was finalised

If it were me, I would move now unless all childcare will be covered by family. They take childcare out of affordability when it comes to mortgages, so you may find that even if you return full time you might not be offered the same amount