How long should we rent for?

[snipitt]

Moved in with my partner 1 year ago into a one bedroom flat. It’s all we could afford in this area.
Since then, both of us have better jobs so could afford a more expensive flat. But happy here and would rather save the money.

DP can reasonably expect his salary to increase a lot over the next two years. He is training to be a solicitor, but obviously we know a job is not guaranteed on completion. My salary is highly likely to go up too.

So my question is, how long should we rent for? Should we sign a 12 month lease, or an 18 month lease? A 24 month lease with an 18 month break clause?

We want to make sure we are in a good position when we move next in terms of lining it up with having a job.

Our priority is to have security that we can stay here as we both want a ‘home’. But equally a slight worry is that in another 12 months we’ll feel we need more space

In your position I would go with 12 months, after that I assume it goes onto a rolling contract? So long as you are financially secure, which it sounds like you are, the advantage of renting is the flexibility and by signing up to longer you are reducing that.

Yes. It goes on to a rolling contract. But then you don’t know if in a month’s time that the landlord will serve notice etc.

We want to avoid having to move all our (bloody) heavy furniture.