DH is getting a new job that comes with a house. We have a house nearby already - it's a really nice house with 4 bedrooms, 3 reception rooms, a lovely garden, and the mortgage is nearly paid off. We need to figure out whether to rent out our house or sell it. If we sell it, I think we'd buy a flat in London that we could use for probably every other weekend to enjoy time in the big city, go to the theatre, etc. I would probably end up spending more time in the flat than DH because I can work from home. I love London and I think it would also be nice as far-flung friends would be more likely to come and stay, and there is so much to do there. I don't think I want to live there full time but for a bolt hole it would be great.
We do want to have a property of our own rather than keep the money in savings. DH reckons he will stay at his job for at least 5 years, and it's a very stable job. And because of the type of job it is, we wouldn't have to pay capital gains tax on our existing house when we sell it regardless of whether we had lived there recently or not.
We've never been landlords before and don't know exactly what it entails. Also I'm a higher rate tax payer and I guess a lot of the rent we received would go in taxes. Maintenance of the house would probably be more expensive than the London flat, but then we'd have to pay council tax, utilities and service charges for London. So London would be more expensive but we'd get something out of it in terms of enjoyment. It's a really tough decision and I'm struggling to make up my mind what to do. Any advice welcome, please.