To move or not to move - wwyd?

[Leafygreentea]

Hi all, so we made an offer on a house several months ago and it got accepted but due to the people further up the chain and several issues with them deciding what they want to do, it's taking forever. As time's ticking on, my partner and I are beginning to wonder whether we're making the right decision. We keep going back and forth with it, so I thought I'd ask on here and see if you guys could give us some new perspective.

We currently live in a house that we own outright. It's 3 bedrooms, semi detached and an OK size to raise children in - as in, manageable if we keep on top of putting things away and keep the variety of things we own to a sensible amount. There's no separate area or room to use as a playroom so all toys etc are in the lounge which obviously takes up most of the space! It has a smallish garden and over the last 5 years since we moved in, we've made it 'home' and are comfortable.

The new house is the same amount of bedrooms, detached. It's quite a bit bigger downstairs and has a playroom but upstairs is pretty much the same size as our current home. Mortgage will be approximately £850 a month but council tax/bills etc will be quite a bit more and house insurance is 5x the amount we currently pay.

We have 100k in savings which is why we'd like to invest in a new property, rather than having it sat in the bank, depreciating.

The government website says the new property has a very high risk for flooding, though the estate agents have told us this isn't the case, as the flood map just needs to be updated. We'll get our solicitor to do extra searches on this.

Do we stay in a smaller house (downstairs, at least) with no mortgage, keep saving and buy something bigger in a few years once we've saved a bit more and maybe find a 'dream' house, or do we invest the money we already have now, pay more each month but have the bonus of extra living space?

I can see why you are getting cold feet. The extra cost for not a lot more sounds concerning.
Do you have kids yet? Do you really need the extra space? If you don't and plan to have them, I think the peace of mind that £100k tucked away to see you through the expensive years should not be underestimated. Also, playrooms are overrated, they want to be where you are!
I'd shelve the idea for now.

Sorry completely misread that and realise it's £850 a month. 😄

How old are your kids? Once you pass peak toy the requirements will change.

I'd say with your savings moving at some point makes sense but I wouldn't do it now, and not for a house with a flood risk.

What is your area like for school catchments?

I think a second lounge area (or a family space with TV and separate snug)

We were in the same situation.

We stayed in the house we owned outright and renovated it to give us the downstairs space we needed.

It was a better financial decision as we'd not be able to buy our house as it is now. We are still mortgage free and our home works perfectly for us.

It doesn’t sound worth moving for.

I would stay mortgage free or use the £100k to improve where you are now or move to a different house using the £100k and a bit of borrowing if needed to get something much bigger. I wouldn’t give myself a large-ish mortgage in the current climate if the house wasn’t substantially better.

We recently moved from a large 3 bed with crap schools to a smaller 3 bed in a much better area (with amazing school options) and spent £80k doing so. I wouldn’t have done it for another £200k though.

If it is in a flood risk area you may find it hard to insure - insurance companies look into this, quite reasonably.

I might invest the money rather than extend- extending is expensive at present, and messy, and in a semi you have to be careful you are spending more than you're going to get back if you sell.