Help Please

[AsYouAreSoIWasAndAsIAmSoYouShallBe]

Hello MNetters,
I am in the middle of buy a house and I am struggling to see whether I am making the right decision here.

This is me currently:

1. 39 y.o. female with 1.5 y.o DC
2. Live in flat, mortgage paid off a couple of years ago
3. Flat is in london zone 2 so very centrally located and I have access to everything; - but no garden
4. Salary circa 6K after tax
5. Work from home
6. Buying house in zone 4 (520K)

My question:
Is it unwise to take out such a huge mortgage at this stage (39yrs) in life ?

Reason for purchase:
So DC can have a garden to play in and access to good grammar schools

The house is in a livable condition but very dated so will require lots of work; rewiring, new boiler, new kitchen etc etc ...hence though I have a good amount in savings after deposit, SDLT and the refurb, i'll be skint for a while.
Mortgage payments will be about 2.5K so I estimate about 3K in monthly costs.
I'm not sure what I am doing with the flat yet, due to it's location I'd like to keep it for DC to inherit one day.

WWYD?
Would you still move or stay in the flat?
Would a move given the above information be unwise?

Thank you for any responses.

Having a garden isn’t the be all, I think I can count on one hand the number of sunny days we had last year that were spent in the garden. You’ve got till your child is 11 before grammar school, so you have a few years yet. Personally I would rather a smaller mortgage, so would definitely sell the flat to put towards finding a house that doesn’t need so much doing, you’ve many years yet to save for DC as you never know what the future holds.

I'd stay in the flat and consider holidaying more. You could go for a lovely break every weekend and take a long term rental in the summer by the sea if you wanted and still not spend as much money as the mortgage would cost you.
I certainly wouldn't switch a place in zone 2 for zone 5. I would move out of London though if I wanted to move again, there are some seriously heavenly places you could live.

I’m 38, me and my husband had paid off our mortgage on the old house and it would have been tempted to stay put for the financial freedom, but we decided to move and take on a big mortgage for a better house for our future.

39 is not too old at all.

And don’t forget buying bigger now will give you more financial freedom later in life.

I would sell and move to my dream home personally.

You are 39 and have many years left to work and a garden isn't just something for your child but somewhere for you to sit out in as well. Plus the whole school situation. I would do it.

I'd move to where the good schools are. But I'd also sell the flat and release capital now. Renting out a property brings its own headaches. Sell it and use the money to have a smaller mortgage.

I wouldn't stay in a leasehold flat unless it was on a long lease and with a small service charge/ground rent.

There is no way I’d take on that size of mortgage without a sizeable deposit to insulate me from any drops in house prices.

I would definitely sell the flat (well I, personally wouldn’t - I’d keep the flat - but if I had your reasons, I would) - to me even if I’d make more money in the long run keeping it, it’s not worth years of being skint every month.

At 1.5 years old you do not know yet if he will get into the grammar school. It s a long way off...
What if he does not? Are the other options OK for you /him? What if he turns out to have dyslexia or other issues?
Why not wait a couple years ? Til you know more on his academic trajectory?

Do you love the area chosen for reasons other than school? Have you always dreamed of living there?
If you dream of a suburban house with garden great ...you can sell the flat down the line... but committing to spending close to 50% of net income in house is a big push ....what about child care costs?

If you love the house and the only compromise is the renovation need. I would do it. I think your reasons are good. I also think that having a central London flat is a good investment for your child’s future if you can afford to do both. If you can’t, and life is stressful, sell them and pay off a chunk of your mortgage.

@Nic834 thank you for your response and they encouragement. All of a sudden it feels daunting, you'd think I'm a first time buyer.
Did you sell your old house or kept it ?

@cestlavielife thank you for your response.
Yes I did think I'd wait a few more years but then I'm 39 and also the laws keep changing mad the prices keep increasing which I feel might not make things any easier.
I haven't always dreamt of the area. To be honest until last year I hadn't even heard of it. However, it's a nice neighbourhood with a beautiful park and direct train links to major cental London Stations in under an hour.
The house with the large sized garden on the other hand is indeed something I've always dreamed of especially as DC will essentially have his own playground.

Thank you for all the points you made, something to consider.

We bought the new one and then sold the old one a few months later to pay a good chunk off the mortgage. It was really nice having the overlap because it meant we could do things in the new house whilst living in the old.