Would you take on a much bigger mortgage for a dream home

[Dreamhome2026]

This might not be the right place for this thread but hopefully you can all guide me.

We are looking for a bigger property with more space. We live in a tourist hot spot. With that comes fairly low incomes in comparison to other UK locations but very high property prices (for certain properties I.e those with a view/ land/ close to the sea, etc).

We have found our dream home. It’s perfect for us BUT it would mean taking on a huge mortgage! We are 30 so still loads of progression to do in our careers. I’m due a pay rise in October and husband will also get a substantial pay rise next year (he’s working through qualifications). It feels unnerving because we are almost mortgage free right now so the increase in bills would feel big (but I don’t think would be above what others might be used to).

I need some perspective. Would you do it? Have you done it? Do you regret it?

Go for it if you can afford it. It’s a long term investment and a home for years. How exciting

I have an above average salary but nothing special and certainly not “high income”. I don’t pay higher rate tax. DH has a very low income around NMW hence my confidence in his salary at least doubling next year when he qualifies.

We bought the worst house on the best street (cheaper than renting) and renovated it whilst studying and training. I was at uni for 5 years so I had to be careful with money! Those habits stuck and when I qualified, my salary doubled over night so I have a lovely but small home and have a big disposable.

Sorry, I did respond to you but didn’t respond directly so you may not see my response.

Yes. Absolutely.
You are young and have plenty of years to both pay your mortgage and also to live in this home.
You are both in secure employment and have presumably been approved for your new mortgage on your current salaries, and yet you know that your income as a family will increase considerably.

Ultimately, if life changes dramatically, you would still have an asset you will be able to sell.

We did this 25 years ago. It was scary, but, with hindsight, still absolutely the right decision. Haven't regretted it for a minute.

I'd definitely go for it. We have acquired more and more money as we've got older, with promotions etc., and neither of us are big spenders. If I'd known back then that I would be sitting on this much cash at my age, I'd definitely have taken more of a risk and gone for a bigger house at your age.

Do you feel ‘done’ and satisfied with your current house? If not, then definitely make the move. You can afford it and it’s an investment.

We did this at 40 and haven’t regretted it. 30 is v young to be alMost mortgage free. We both work from home and spend a lot of time here, so for us it is worth it, sounds similar to you. Yes, we had to cut back on some holidays in the early years but they have come back and I wouldn’t change it. £1600pm feels v avg I would say, but of course it is all relative to income and outgoings. From the change in lifestyle you describe, it sounds like you would appreciate the changes it would bring.

I would consider, do you want or do you need the house?

how important is it to you? Compared for example if you as a couple paid £1600 a month into pensions/investments and could perhaps retire at 50?

I think I would have discussions with your husband about what your life goals are outside of just housing but in all aspects and see if the bigger house aligns with that.

as a country we are a little bit obsessed with bigger homes being better, but you can be happy in a smaller home and it sounds like you have a wonderful lifestyle with so many foreign holidays

No, I've seen a few friend take on a massive mortgage and then one of them gets sick, loses their job and so on leading to horrible stress and financial problems. I would only ever take on a mortgage I could comfortably afford and pay it down fast.

£1600 is very average. I don’t see the drama personally, but we all have different attitudes to risk.

We moved to ‘dream home’. £630k mortgage, £2,900 a month on repayments. No regrets, but I find more joy in a home that spending money elsewhere. We take around 2-3 abroad holidays a year still.

We're in a similar position. The jump is huge but many others are paying that and managing. Go for it. It sounds like the quality of life improvement would be substantial

I couldn’t see where you answered @Backtosugar’s question re children.
If you had children and had to or wanted to take extended maternity leave would you still be able to pay the mortgage ?
Children add huge costs to a family.

Almost anyone in the country would feel big financial stress at getting sick, losing job and no active income to pay mortgage. To not be in that position is rather impossible for the average person.

Well I’m guessing that they didn’t lose it per se, they just sold it and split it in half?

Can you afford rates at 10%?

Not if you're planning on having children. I wouldn't do it unless you'd be comfortable. We thought about it, but now have dcs (who are young) and holidays, we wouldn't want to give it up for a newer kitchen, and an extra bedroom. We wanted an office, but dcs are at school so we get by from home. We all treasure travelling more, and with a larger mortgage we couldn't do that. I also wouldn't want to add years to our mortgage and retire much later. We are very fortunate that we will have it paid off mid 50s, and should be in the position to help our dcs out, and enjoy life ourselves before get too old. I think it is subjective though, and depends on your life circumstances and priorities.

Its true but also you can make a reasoned choice not to overload yourself with debt. We chose to live well below our means so that if the worst were to happen we could continue to live in our home with a decent standard of living on one wage. Many people will buy the most expensive house/car/lifestyle they can possibly afford and that is a choice.

Unfortunately paying a mortgage + essential bills on one wage isn’t a reality in many parts of the UK. It’s not reasonable to expect people to move away from their families and support network and jobs or continue renting forever. It is what it is and we can’t all be so privileged as to afford to live on one wage.

The average mortgage repayment in the UK is current £1300-1700. OP is in a completely typical position for a two-income household.

Can you afford it on one salary? It seems a reasonable amount to me. Make sure you have at least a year's money in a savings account. Jobs are scarce. I think you are both professionals so you're probably not going to be laid off. But it's taking mid to senior people a year to get new jobs.
Fwiw we bought our dream house and sold it due to family caring duties. If we had kept it it would have been paid off now and worth a fortune ( it sold for £2.2m last year).

No, it was 2008! So they maxed out on mortgage, the market crashed and they sold at a huge loss.

We have recently done this. My reasoning was that I would spend the addition cost of the mortgage on a lovely 2 week holiday each year - why wouldn’t I want to live where I live every day?
The house is also a better investment than the last one and if we ever reach a point where we no longer can or want to pay the mortgage we can downsize and be better off than we were.
I’m quite a bit older than you but I wouldn’t want to wait and regret moving sooner.

That was meant to say ‘why wouldn’t I want to LOVE where I live….’

Yes - apparently we can lend double what we will borrow! Madness

I didn't say people should do what we do exactly this post is about taking on a much bigger mortgage for a "dream" house. So my advice is no, don't do it stick to what they can more comfortably afford instead of chasing lifestyle that is beyond them. You seem to think that if you'd be ruined even with a small mortgage then you might as well be ruined by a huge one. If that is the kind of thinking people endorse then no wonder personal debt is such a huge issue!

Bigger is relative. It sounds like they're in a similar position to us. We're looking at a mortgage 3-4 times our current monthly payments. Which is a huge jump. But only takes us to £1200-£1600, very feasible really and well within the range the bank will lend. I think op is similar.