London mums - what's your property ladder like?

[mapotofu]

Hubby and I are currently living in our first property - 2 bed flat, new build, near Tufnell Park. 2 bed felt huge initially, we thought we could live here for 10 years until our (future) kid is 5yo. Then Covid hit and now we're both WFH 3-4 days a week. Hubby in the spare bedroom, I'm in the living room.

We're thinking to try to have a baby in a few months. I'm overplanning as usual and I'm thinking that soon we need at least a 3 bed place. School is another thing I'm massively overthinking - there are plenty of nurseries and good primary schools nearby, but not secondary schools.

Buying and moving are such a hassle, so I'm thinking instead of buying a 3 bed flat, then later move to a house near good secondary schools, I just want to stay put until we have enough money to move to our forever home. But that might still be in 8-10 years. Is it feasible to live in a 2-bed flat with a 7yo when we're both WFH?

Would love to hear from you: how did your property ladder look like as a couple/family - from your first home to where you are now? Mainly interested to hear from Londoners.

Personally I would find that really difficult.
Kids come with A LOT of stuff and it takes over the place. With working at home, and your partner, it may become a little bit suffocating.

Of course it can be done, just might not be ideal.
I'd personally be looking a little further out if intending to have DC and both WFH.
We lived in crouch end, moved to Barnet. Partly for secondary school options - looking to the future.

Would you want to have more than one child?

We're London and our first property was a (large) ground floor 3 bed flat which was a similar sq footage to a 3 bed house, but no opportunity to extend at all.

In hindsight we stayed there far longer than we should have done, but we never really saw the point of moving to a similar sized house. 3 DC later, plus covid and working from home when we were completely on top of each other, we made the decision to go for it and move up to a large 4 bed - which has added a significant amount to our mortgage.

I'm not sure how feasible that would be these days though as we were in our old flat for 15 years and benefited massively from an increase in property prices (up and coming area as well as natural uplift) - we did nothing other than redecorate our flat to add value and were able to put a 50% deposit down on our house.

We had a 1 bed flat in a trendy location. Then bought a 4 bed dump in an “up and coming” area while pregnant with DC1. Now wondering whether to continue investing in that house or move up the ladder (DC1 is 5, Dc2 is 3). We may move again for secondaries but not sure yet.

Should also say we were lucky to make money on our first flat (33% price increase in 3 years we were there) and now have about 60% equity in our house after 5 years, having done it up a bit and benefited from house price growth in the area.

We moved to a three bed before DD was born, and still there now DD2 is on the way.

A spare room is immensly useful with a little one, even without WFH. If you get a shit sleeper it’s great to have somewhere for the parent not ‘on duty’ to escape to.

Secondary schools near us are rubbish, so the plan is to move when DD1 is approaching that age, ideally to a 4 bed if we can stretch to it in the right area.

| Would you want to have more than one child?

For now, we're thinking to have just one, but we're not strictly closing the door to a second child. I guess that means buying a 4 bed might be inevitable in the future..? 😅

| I'm not sure how feasible that would be these days though as we were in our old flat for 15 years and benefited massively from an increase in property prices (up and coming area as well as natural uplift)

| Should also say we were lucky to make money on our first flat (33% price increase in 3 years we were there)

Our 2-bed flat hasn't increased in price sadly. We bought it for 600k in 2018. It's probably already at the top end of the price for a 2 bed flat so it can't go up further much 😩That's another reason why I'm a bit reluctant to sell/move anytime soon.

We went through this debate and eventually moved out to the London burbs: still on the tube line but also with overland train options, buses and great schools. We traded up to a house with a garden and lots of space. My commute is almost as fast but I get seats!
Many years later, we are still in the area whereas those we left in flats have long left London entirely for the countryside or other cities.

We bought a 2 bed flat that we never ever wanted to leave, had a child, had a second and bit the bullet. Our flat had more than doubled in value in 6 years, we were able to buy a 3 bed maisonette with garden in an unfashionable block on the same street- twice the size!!- for less than 10% more than what we sold for! I’ve not seen another property this size within 3 miles for anything like so cheap since. It felt like a miracle! We now have third child, and it’s a tight fit (at least one of us has always worked from home/cafes), but we could never in a million years afford to move in the area, so we count our blessings. We are zone 2-3 borders, south east.

I went 2 bed flat to house (which I expect to stay in a while) when I had children. Most people I know have done the same. Stamp duty has been a big deterrent from having lots of smaller steps as well as not being able to get a first step on the ladder until they're older. I don't know anyone who's gone for a three bed flat - people just seem to move further out to where they can afford it.

I am in the same situation as you, wanting to TTC and want to move to a bigger flat. I also own a 2 bed 1930s flat in north London, but in East Finchley, which we bought in 2019 when we were 27 and 29 respectively. Contemplating a move to a 3 bed ex council flat in Highgate (bigger rooms). Would probably never live in a house!

I am not WFH, DH is only WFH two days a week and we are getting childcare support from MIL who also lives in North London.

I don't know anyone who is just going for a bigger flat like me,but the person who outbid me for the 3 bed flat i had my eye on was in a chain as well, so probably moving from something smaller

Its a purpose built with garden! Wow, I know of precisely 1 flat that fits that description in my area and its ex council.

Weird your comments about schools. They are really really good round you. Doesn't help with space problem and you'd need a lot more money to trade up round there.

We are in our 50s so it’s a bit different but…
started in small terrace outside London
moved to semi also outside london
moved to smaller house when work forced move to london
then moved to a 4 bed in London

We have 4 children so needed a bigger house.

Have always really appreciated outside space with children. I know we are really lucky to have had houses rather than flats. But I’d have chosen a maisonette with small garden if I’d not been able to afford a house.

Bingo @socialmedia23 ! Postwar ex council on a street of lovely period properties, so the less desirable houses. It’s such an easy home to live in, the postwar social
architects knew what they were doing!

State secondary schools? I found literally zero within the catchment area. One possibility is a selective girls-only state school near Marylebone that has a wider catchment area, but I don't know yet whether my child will be a boy or a girl! (I'm overplanning/overthinking as I said, I'm not even pregnant yet)

We bought a one bed flat and converted it into two. We had intended to convert it and move but we had my DD. So now we're still in the flat with a now 4 year old. We happen to be in the catchment of a great primary.

We are hoping to sell this year to buy a house but we will have to see what we can get for our flat and how much we can afford to borrow.

Living in a flat with a baby and toddler was fine but she is starting to get bigger and we don't have the room that she needs anymore.

Which area did you move to if you don't mind sharing?

Is it still owned by the council? I am looking at ex council flats now, they are just so much bigger than the non council ones! But the problem is that a lot of them have 90 plus years lease and you need to budget for major works. May not mind doing that if we are saving money on the purchase price from the onset.

you should look at muswell hill. Fortismere and Alexandra Park- both unisex. Also lots of good primary schools. You can't get a house there but you can get one of those conversions with a garden. my DH hates them so I can't get one of them.

Outdoor space can be more important when you have a child.
Schools will change - what's good now may not be good in 5-10 years time.

God Mumsnet people are weird. Great experiences to be had at all of the state schools, but I'll just mention Parliament Hill, Camden School for Girls, Acland Burghley, Haverstock etc etc. However for ridiculous reasons middle class people in Camden fling their money at private. More fool them.

Could you look at Finsbury Park / Crouch Hill or Archway? It wouldn’t be too far from where you are now and I expect you could get a 3 bed flat in the £600k-£650k range, I appreciate there would be moving costs but that might suit you for another 5-ish years?

A one bed flat in a sought after part of zone 2 pre-kids, upgraded to a two bedroom flat nearby in zone 3 and immediately regretted it because it felt like we’d moved away from all the buzzy stuff (pubs, cafes etc) we loved. Once we were pregnant with our first upgraded to a four bedroom house in the same area, a less sought after neighbouring borough to the popular one we first moved to. Eventually the popular area expanded bringing The nicer pubs and cafes etc with it and the house we felt lukewarm about became sought after. Possibly all helped by a rising property market although when we bought flat 2 it was 2007 and the flat immediately slumped in price for a few years.

1. 2 bed FF flat when we had first child.
2. Moved further out to 3 bed for garden, and space for a second child.
3. Moved a third time for decent secondary schools (hadn't factored that in properly before), to another 3 bed, similar area/zone, similar price.

Too much moving, imo - and costs £££ every time you do it.