London living rent or stay private!

[blushnoir]

So we rent privately a 2 bed house in a borough backing into Heathrow.
It has a very large garden but second bedroom is a box room with my dd has and my son shared bedroom with us

We've been offered a two bed flat in Chiswick for £300 less then we pay now due to the London living rent scheme. It has balcony. Both rooms are large.
It is my dream location but dh is hesitant as it's still a two bed and we have no garden

My point is, we can buy it eventually and get given 10 years to buy it through shared ownership or outright.
He thinks we should wait for a 3 bed in surrounding areas to come up in the scheme so it's bigger and wouldn't require adjustment later.

But I just love the area and always wanted to live around Chiswick.
And my point is, our landlord has already informed us the rent is going up in 2 months.
I just hate the lack of security in the private rented sector and just feel this is my chance to feel secure paying less for the years to come! And we don't even use the garden even with a 3 year old and 1 year old! We always end up at parks!

What would you do! Stay put or move?

Personally I wouldn't give up the garden and I think it would make sense to wait for a 3 bed, especially as you have a boy and girl.

What is the likelihood of a 3 bed coming up in the near future?

How long could you happily live in a 2 bed? Any scope for creating a 3rd bedroom?

If you were renting the 2 bed would you still be eligible if a 3 bed became available?

I'd be wary of committing to a 2 bed if a 3 bed is likely to become available soon, unless you can still look for 3 beds in the scheme once living in the 2 bed, or the 2 bed could be made into a 3 bed somehow.

A garden is really useful with kids, but so is affordable stable housing, I would personally give up a garden for stability.

I’d give up a garden for stability. If the rooms are large could you subdivide one to have a space for DS and DD. Lots of good ideas how to do it on a budget on pinterest

I'd give up the garden for the stable tenancy, reduced rent and Chiswick (much nicer area than Heathrow). The only question is, how likely is it that you will get a 3 bed if you wait?

If it is a 10% likelihood I would take the 2 bed, but if it is a 75% likelihood I would wait.

@TheYearOfSmallThings

I'd give up the garden for the stable tenancy, reduced rent and Chiswick (much nicer area than Heathrow). The only question is, how likely is it that you will get a 3 bed if you wait?

If it is a 10% likelihood I would take the 2 bed, but if it is a 75% likelihood I would wait.

If we go for the tenancy, we won't be able to swap for another. It be 3 years minimum.

There isn't even a guarantee we would get the 3 bed, it all goes down to who the housing provider chooses/applications etc.

And I agree. We don't use the garden anyway, the children still want to go parks and out and about. I was thinking I'd even forfeit a bedroom if it came to it. And the area is lovely, nice schools, environment etc, not Hounslow basically

I think the smaller flat sounds like a good option, especially if the bedrooms are big enough that you can divide one room into two spaces (e.g. bunks in the middle) to give each child a separate space.

the security of a a permanent location in a good area is v v v valuable.

I’d definitely move , Chiswick is lovely.

Wait for 3 bed.

I wouldn’t bank on being considered for a three bed even if they did become available. These schemes are oversubscribed and unless your household size warrants a three bedroom property, you’d be declined one. They’ll consider two very young children, even of the opposite sex, able to share a bedroom until they’re quite a bit older and prioritise larger families for larger properties.

Can you be sure that you’ll be in a position to buy the property in the future? Part of the application and eligibility process is that they go through your finances with you, make sure that future purchase is even vaguely possible, and you commit to saving money for a deposit each month. Make sure you’d not be knocked back on finances which don’t add up.