Would you be comfortable borrowing this much?

[Yikesno]

We have £375k and decent houses in the area we really love are £650k (London area).So we'd be looking at getting a mortgage of £275k.

My job pays £100k. DH only works part time and earns £11k. No children, no debts, no health issues and I have a great defined benefits pension and very stable job I enjoy (public service). On paper it looks fine but...I'm 50. Would you go for it at my age?

Over what period of time, 10 years, can you manage that?

I wouldnt want a mortgage going on to my late 60s or later

We've paid ours off and Im 51, he's 61

Depends - at current rates what does that mean for your monthly bills. We took on a larger mortgage with lower income and kids but mortgage rates were different then. It’s not the amount it’s the cost and likely continued cost if that makes sense.

I'm thinking over 17 years, paying it off and then retiring at my normal retirement age. That would mean assumung 5% interest we'd pay £2k per month which is fine and would give us the opportunity to overpay and/or save plus have enough left over to enjoy life also.

By the way we are downsizing- but since moving from the NW to London spending a lot more. If we weren't moving we'd have a our much larger house paid off in another 3 years...but would much rather be in London now and when we retire.

Another thibg that might be worth mentioning- I would never count on it but we may inherit approximately £500k in the next decade or so ( hopefully not for a very long time though and as I say I wouldn't count on it).

Will someone actually lend that over that time period?

Basically, you take home 5.5k, DH brings in a further grand.
You are thinking 2k repayment. That's under a third of your (large) income. So sounds reasonable.

The numbers sound scary due to the low housing cost where you were.

If everything else stacks up, and a bank will give you a mortgage in principle, go for it.

Yes, if you stand to inherit that much I’m sure those people/person would help you out if shit hit the fan.

id downsize now rather than in 1-2 years time…

If you have a decent pension (which they'll ask for proof of) and an income of OP's size, they'll actually lend up to the age of 75 these days.

They were going to give my 41 yo OH a 33 year term and 441,500.

So, yeah, I think OP's a pretty safe bet for getting that money - perhaps a longer term going into pensionable years if they insist on it though.

Yes absolutely. We're 45 and have just taken some equity out so mortgage not far off that. We earn more but have 2 kids and private school coming up. Your situation seems very comfortable to me particularly given the pension situation.

Yes, definitely!

Thanks very much for the responses. Yes you're right @CatsOnTheChair - it sounds scary because the prices where we live are much lower. But I think in order to get what we want we have to just be brave and go for it. I'll take a few deep breaths and try to wrap my head around it, then back to obsessively searching rightmove. Thanks again.

I wouldn’t be happy being the major earner and being committed to a large mortgage until I was 67. A lot can happen with inheritance, it’s not yours until the person has died. They may need care, there may be disputes etc. Nice bonus but don’t make your future dependent on inheritance.

Obvious question - why is DH working very p/t for £11k with no DC or health care issues.

That's a massive salary disparity.

DH is in a low paid, physically demanding career but one that's meaningful to him. I actually am the one who convinced him to go part time because working at his role full time was having a detrimental effect on him. He's a bit older than me, also. I'm fine being the main earner and my job is meaningful to me also.

If it all gets too much in a few years you could take some of your pension lump sum to pay a chunk off but obviously you'd need to look into how that would affect your pension long term. Reassuring to know it's there as a back up.

That's true @Turmerictolly or else we could enjoy a few years in London, then if we needed to sell up and buy somewhere cheaper.

We're about to go from a mortgage of 130k to 260k. DH earns 60k and I earn 28k. We'll be at 70% LTV with the next purchase. No children and no plans for children. We ummed and aaahhed a lot before deciding to move but I'm glad we're doing it now.

Absolutely, we did something very similar at your age…I’m now wishing we’d gone for more and got detached rather than semi. Borrowed £275k with a 300k deposit. We hav3 a plan to pay off and if anything happened we’d move somewhere cheaper.

Yes, I would. I would probably make some overpayments to pay it off quicker to give you the option of slowing down later on / early retirement.

Yes absolutely, if you can afford the repayments and this is a lifestyle move you really want (sounds great) then do it.

So many yesses it's really encouraging thanks very much! We're going to book in for some viewings next week.

Yes, you have a low LTV

Don't count on inheritance though

Yes, I'd go for it. You have decent equity. If the worst happens and you lose your salary you might have to downsize. But in the meantime why not live the life you want to.

I think in your position I’d want to look at smaller/cheaper properties in the area you like, rather than have such a hefty mortgage. One income and 50+ would mean it would personally be above my comfort zone. As there’s only 2 of you then you have more leeway on mount of bedrooms needed etc.

We borrowed £320k over 30 years and never time will probably have to borrow £450k over 25 years. We live in London and houses cost £800k+

It's not ideal but that's unfortunately what we will need to borrow.

I'm definitely looking for properties that are cheaper but they all seem to come with a massive compromise and I don't want to be in the position of wanting to move again in the next few years. This will definitely be our highest price move - either they'll be carrying us out of this house in a box or we'll be moving somewhere much cheaper and banking the rest.