Too late for upgraded house move?

[Cortisolina]

I’m 48, DH is mid-50s but in that classic London way, we had DC quite late. We have one early teen DC and a late primary DC.

I realise we are hugely fortunate and privileged to own a house but I’m afraid it doesn’t stop me feeling meh and that we should have taken more risks and traded up when we had the chance.

This isn’t the house I dreamed of when I was growing up and I can’t help kicking myself that we didn’t upsize areas and house when we had the time and possibly finances (and low interest rates!) to do so.

When I read other threads on here, it seems people just a couple of years older than me are downsizing. Meanwhile many friends have just finished wonderful renovations or have moved to lovely homes (thanks sadly to inheritances or rapid promotions).

We are probably now too old to upgrade, DC would be hit with IHT before long and that makes me feel a bit depressed.

There are no real excuses except that we waited too long, were vaguely satisfied and we skipped the small house stage to move straight to a medium sized house. We prioritised paying off a mortgage (STUPID move).

Pros of staying in our house:
We have always liked our area and street - super transport links, beautiful housing stock, nice neighbours, park within easy walking distance.
Prices are high as it’s London but for the size and proximity to Zone 1, they’re cheaper than comparable areas.
Easy commute for one DC school, just about bearable for other.
Commutable to potential workplaces.
Close to good areas.
Nothing bad structurally.
Nice period features.
No extra mortgage

Cons of staying put:
I’m bored of our house. We have lived here for the best part of 20 years! We could redecorate but don’t think this would fix the things that I want to change - more living space, wider footprint, bigger garden. Can’t extend further and not worth it.
No offstreet parking.
Slower capital growth as it is worth less than more ‘known’ areas.
Feels less safe than area I would want to move to.
If we ‘upsize’ value wise now, it might give us more options when we retire in a decade and can sell a more valuable property.
On the other hand, if AI continues to wipe out professional jobs and if governments continue to deter well off foreigners, there won’t be anyone to sell the more expensive house to.
DC will still be at home for 6-8 more years.

I have always eyed a more expensive area that isn’t as conveniently located but is more leafy.

I know we should count our blessings but I hate feeling like is this as good as it gets. It’s definitely a head over heart hormonal rant and I apologise in advance to those who can only dream of being homeowners in this messed up economy.

I am in my early 50's, recently divorced and still I am moving to a better house than I had before. I will have mortgage paid off before I am 60, possibly a lot sooner. I have adult kids moving with me.
Plan is at retirement to stay local-ish but downsize (hoping the 'kids' are gone by then) and find somewhere properly nature and community rich.

Just do it.

I'd probably move in your circs, given that you have kids at home for a long while yet.

I'm 56 and DH is 53, and we would not consider moving at our ages, but that's because the house is big enough for the two of us (Kids left home 10 years ago, and we are in a 5 bed), also, we are set to pay the mortgage off next year, DH is retiring at 55, and then we plan to travel for 3-4 months a year.

I think the details matter. We want zero mortgage payments, so we can take our feet off the gas.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s great that so many made the move on their own terms! For now it doesn’t make financial sense for us. A move to the next step up would be at least £1m for us unless we left London. I’m waiting to see if property prices tumble and then it might be doable! But I honestly now lack the energy to renovate and start again with a mortgage. It took us a decade to pay off about £350k and that was with an offset and two decent salaries. We now have one healthy salary but two sets of school fees! It was doable before interest rates surged but that has put a spanner in the works. Oh and Osborne’s stamp duty reforms made it astronomical to buy houses over 900k.

We are focusing on trying to do some low key investing in index funds and tech stocks and hoping these and some other investments come in to alleviate some of the pressure and give us a decent semi retirement! For me the priority would be to travel and to help the kids with a deposit or investments (again, I’m not obsessed with property in the UK as a year ago…)

I love a PP’s insight into how entertaining changes away from home to going out when the kids have moved out. Great idea!

Well I’m 60, my partner 60, our kids early 20s. We have just upsized - in size but not value by moving to a slightly cheaper area. Intention is to release some cash to treat the kids now and then. Also so we can retire earlier than 67. 48 is baby age. Can you move out of London so in effect releasing some cash but not size. Then you could find your dream home…..

there are some good private schools outside of London.

We spent about 1/2 our budget when we bought our house 5 years ago because we didn’t want a big mortgage, but I gutted it and it’s now exactly as I want it, except it’s a bit small and doesn’t have off street parking or a garage. The garden is beautifully landscaped but small(ish). When we started we were ‘one and done’ and now we have two. It’s worth about the same as your house (also in London). We’ve paid off the mortgage now and could afford to buy something for £2m+, but we wouldn’t want to move area. It all seems like too much bother to me, for a bit more space, and it is so nice not to have a mortgage and increase our savings. When the children are gone (and we’re nowhere near yet!) we plan to downsize to a flat in a fashionable part of Central London. Would you want to be in a big house when your children move out?