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.

We live in zone 4/5 SE London

Two primary age children

2 bedroom split level maisonette
Ground floor/1st floor so we have direct access to garden

2 mainline train stations within walking distance

We were in the process of selling last year but we lost our buyer when we took too long trying to find something to buy

Looking for the classic 3 bed semi

Prices this time last year just seemed to be going up every week & just impossible to afford

With hindsight we could have afforded a house in 2021 based on prices at the time

I'm now plotting to get our property back on the market & get seriously looking again...just need to convince DH!

So many properties hanging around on the market here, many price reductions...it's an interesting market

It's a squeeze in our home with just 2 bedrooms but it is what it is

My motivation to move is to get more space/another bedroom but also to get into catchments for some decent secondaries

Where we live has good primaries but it's a bit of a 'black hole' for secondary schools, not certain we'd get the one we want

Got a couple years left before this but I know it'll come round quick!

Also we bought our place less than 5 years ago so there's no crazy price rise we're going to gain from!

Not sure at all about moving 'further out' to buy something more affordable

For us this would be Orpington which is zone 6 and looks just as expensive where we are or beyond to Sevenoaks or Tunbridge Wells which are definitely not cheap areas!!

We had both bought flats before we met - mine a 3 bed (south London, not on the tube), and he a 2 bed (south London, on tube), both fixer-uppers. I moved into his and rented mine out for a bit, then we sold both and bought a 5 bed renovation project in the same area as my flat. Had a baby mid-renovation, then the second one 2 years later. We have brilliant primaries and ok options for secondary, tho didn’t think about that hugely when buying. Our general plan was to buy the house so that, if we stayed in London, we never had to move again.

We were very lucky, in that both our flats increased massively in value, which made it possible. I do strongly endorse south London as a much cheaper option though!