Would you move to a nicer area?

[Imsorryyoufeelthatway]

We currently live in a great house in a not great suburb of a small city. The house itself is large, detached, ticks loads of boxes & is well situated for transport links, school etc. However the reason we could afford it is because it’s on the edge of a council estate. Now I have nothing against council estates - I spent my entire childhood in a council flat & most of my family still live in social housing - BUT in our area there’s a fair bit of anti-social behaviour, visible drug dealing (although that seems to go on everywhere) etc. and nowhere really to go out (although the city is only a bus ride away). We have great neighbours & obviously once we close our front door whatever’s going on outside doesn’t affect us.

We’re in a better financial position than when we bought the house 5 years ago & could afford a mortgage on a house in the lovely, village-y suburb 2 miles down the road with cafes, beaches, lovely high st. etc. but prices there are more than double for a similar size house, so we’d effectively be doubling & adding years onto our mortgage (if we stay put we could pay the mortgage off by the time we’re 50). It would also mean a lifestyle change. As it stands we have a decent disposal income for holidays, days out etc., which is important to us (we both grew up in poverty & want our DC to have the things we didn’t), but if we increased the mortgage we’d need to tighten our belts & accept that we wouldn’t be mortgage free until we’re in our 60s.

What would you do? Move to a nicer area & tighten belts or stay put & enjoy the disposable income?

I'd probably move. How old are your DC? What are the local schools like?

DC is 10 & I should have said that schools aren’t an issue as they’re in an all-through independent in the city & can travel just as easily from both areas.

I'd move in a heartbeat and I actually did recently. The new place in the nicer area makes me feel like I'm on a lovely holiday all of the time. Wish we had done it years ago .

To me it would be about where they would be hanging around. Who and what they're exposed to. For this reason I would move.

For the quality of life and for your child, I would move. You will all be so much more relaxed.

We moved. Although for us, schools were also a consideration and we moved in time for Dc1 to apply to a local comp.

We moved from a similar sounding area to yours to a very naice area much closer to the coast, best schools in the County etc etc - and where house prices are easily 2-4 times higher than where we were before.

It's less than 10 miles from where we used to live but it's like living in a different world. I absolutely love where we live now, from the moment I open the door and I would make the same decision over and over again.

I'm in a very similar situation to you and we will be moving before our children start school. If schools are not a concern and your child has a good friendship group then I'd be inclined to stay put and enjoy the higher disposable income.

I'd move if the house prices are likely to go up more in the better area, for example we did this 18 years ago, bought a house that tripled in value where the houses in the area we came from didn't even double (in that wave of increased house prices). We invested in our home too and made it much bigger and more desirable (also helps its in an amazing spot in the best small town outside our midlands city - we won't be mortgage free til 60's but we will have a nest egg in our home

Weigh up the options is my advice

I'd move .

I bought on a council estate rather than overstretch myself and I love having the extra disposable cash.
If ASB isn't affecting you personally and you get on with your neighbours, I would stay put. If it becomes a problem in future, you can move then.
No point being around all the arty little cafes if you can't afford a coffee!

100% move to give your DC a much better quality life 365 days a year, not just days out and holidays.

I'd move. I'd not want my children growing up with drug dealers around the doors. Paying off mortgage in 60's is fine as long as before you retire. I'd love to live near to beach.

How bad is the area? Do you feel safe? As long as you are not worried about your lifetime, I would stay put. There is loads of drug dealing going on in places like Chelsea and affluent suburbs everywhere, (as rich people use statistically the most drugs, no brainer, as they have more money to buy them), so you never get to escape that. We live in what most people consider a run down town centre. Many of the neighbouring houses have council tenants, and many others are multiple occupation. It allowed us though to get the most lovely, large house for less than a 2 bedroom flat in many other places and keep the mortgage low enough to send dcs to a great independent school, so don't have to worry about local state schools 'requiring improvement' and having no 6th-form within a radius of 30miles. We do feel safe though. We sometimes hear people arguing outside, racing their car or occasionally someone smokes weed in front of our door, but I had the same issues in expensive Barnsbury and Holland Park and even in leavfy Berkshire where I lived before, and actually to a much greater extend. I hated living in an expensive area in a shoe box. I also hated the fact that in places like Holland Park, you couldn't ever go out as everything was so ridiculously expensive. I love a lovely large house that is great inside and the (financial) freedom to travel/go where I like, and having a very reasonably priced chippy and Chinese takeaway at the door step.

I’d move as long as you can pay off the new mortgage by the age of about 65

TBH I'd prioritise living in a nicer area where I don't see drug dealing on the street over paying for private education. If you were in a good area with good schools you could be investing your money in property rather than throwing it away on schooling.

The nicer area is in the same catchment area for secondary schools as the one we’re in now, so if DC was in state school it wouldn’t make any difference to their education. School isn’t part of the equation as they’ll stay at their current school no matter what as it best suits their needs.

How likely are your neighbours to move ?

If one of them moves and you get a problem neighbour then it's going to be harder for you to sell.

The real problem will be when your kids want to start spending more time outside alone.

@NellyBarney We’re on the same wavelength! I completely agree about drug dealing (I rented in a v affluent area of London for 15 years for work & was offered crack at the tube station most mornings at 7am) and we love living in a decent sized house with outside space etc. Our current area doesn’t feel unsafe at all & TBH our whole city is a bit edgy & tends to attract colourful characters, so nowhere is perfect. Thanks for your well-thought out reply, definitely food for thought.

Do you happen to live in Exeter and are tempted to move to Topsham?

No but have heard it’s lovely there.

Anywhere, there are so many 'picturesque' places, and the grass always seems to look greener just down the road, but every place will have it's downsides. Look at all the murders in lovely Midsummer 😅

Location, Location, Location.

I'm also going to ask what are the immediate neighbours like and is there a "settled" feeling to the area. We lived somewhere very similar and only moved as it was a two bed tiny tiny terrace with no back garden otherwise I'd have stayed forever. I loved the vibe and I was surrounded by lovely people. We even had a homeless hostel at the end of the road and I honestly never felt intimidated or worried for my safety. That area is actually starting to be gentrified a bit as it happens.

I would find it difficult to move from a detached property into one that's attached - even if it's in a nicer area - unless you can afford a detached property in your preferred area?

I recently moved to a much better neighbourhood. Where I was was okay - occasional issues with neighbours, higher crime but I was happy to bough. Then I realised I was stressed about living there when I retired and trapped.

new neighbourhood is lovely - I can totally see myself living here for the next forty years. Yes the mortgage is bigger and I will have it until I retire (other house would have been paid off in the next five years). But I am setter and happy