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?

Isn't it wild what they'll lend you?! They'll lend us 50% more than we're looking at and we already feel like we're pushing it with the budget we've set ourselves!

I agree. The economy isn’t predicated to improve, also there’s the adverse impact of AI to contend with.

Yes if it has development potential and there’s enough money to renovate/develop in a way that would increase its value. No if it’s a final product already. The way I see it, there needs to be some kind of (potential) payout for taking a big financial risk - beyond just hoping house prices will go up.

@Mt563 If the OP can comfortably afford it then its not a problem, only they know if that is the case or if they are getting carried away by the idea of something. My only advice is that you have to be sure you can afford it even with a worst case scenario or two kept in mind.

Any average mortgage will feel like a ‘much bigger mortgage’ to OP because she’s almost mortgage free.

You don’t know know that she is taking out a mortgage beyond her means because she has not given enough figures to calculate that.

Only if our jobs were absolutely secure as can be.

Yes, I’d definitely do this at 30 years old as long as your jobs are secure. Your bills will be higher in a bigger house.

No

Personally no but my priority in life is making my living costs as cheap as possible so I can work less and only do work I’m really passionate about, and travel more. But people have different priorities so if you can afford it there’s not a right or wrong answer

It sounds like you might be a doctor, based on some of the things you’ve mentioned? In which case - yes, do it, you can almost certainly afford it (I’m a doctor). Don’t forget to factor in the cost of any potential future children in terms of lost earnings and childcare.

Yes! We will have children but we have a fantastic support system. Parents who have already retired in their early 50s! No expectation they will be our childcare but they seem genuinely excited to at least be as involved as they can be. We also have a maternity fund to bridge the gap.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. It doesn’t sound large in comparison to your average mortgage just that I’m almost mortgage free.

Loads of potential! We would build a double garage, it needs renovating throughout to modernise but perfect base.

Not really madness if you can afford it, the madness is that lots of people just gambled on being able to afford it in the future because they were getting offered super cheap mortgages on very very (IMO) overpriced houses.

https://www.lse.co.uk/news/uk-borrowing-costs-hit-28-year-high-on-uk-pm-leadership-uncertainty-ria6djznos6vrob.html

No way. We could have had a much larger, 7 bedroom home, when we bought our current home. It was so tempting because it was absolutely beautiful and in a beautiful spot.

But, if you are mortgaged, that house is not yours. You are renting from the bank with variable rates and circumstances in life i.e. redundancy, deaths, interest rate hikes etc.

You are going to enjoy your home much better if you don't feel like you're tied to it through fear.

I’m willing to admit that I am risk averse and my comfort levels in terms of lending are far lower than most. I have never had a car on finance, I’ve never had a loan and my credit card is paid off in full every month without question.

I think that heavily influences what I would deem an appropriate level of mortgage and monthly outgoings. On paper, I can lend a significant amount more than I would be comfortable to pay. Thats with professional careers with good progression, investments and huge equity in our current home.

I am happy to admit I am not, and never will be, a gambler!

I would also turn down a 7 bedroom house. For our needs, that would be excessive. We are looking at a 4 bedroom (good size bedrooms with en-suites) in our ideal location, with enough space for our animals.

Will it be perfect for the rest of your life? I think that’s the question- can you grow old there easily, safely? Our own house which we bought because it was all we could afford has proven to be too rural, although we were happy there for a few years. Bringing teens in and out of town is a nightmare plus we have steep stairs that I won’t be able to navigate within the next twenty years. It’s some young family’s dream home but elderly us will have to be gone

Right, but it wasn't a comparison regarding home types and requirements, it was a statement regarding what we wanted versus what we thought was sustainable and viable into the future. This is what I thought you were asking about.

I suppose you are renting the money for the house from the bank as opposed to renting the house from a landlord? The bank rate on mortgage debt is going to be a lot more volatile than rent in this environment though.

One problem is though that because loads of people have gambled on the property casino with very large mortgage debt that also affects the price of any house that you buy, so are you also prepared to take a price hit in future if rates stay higher or go up?

Yes, that's my view re: rent. The mortgage is better, obviously, for ROI or security i.e. landlord can sell up and kick you out etc but it's still volatile and needs consideration beyond the immediate circumstance.

That's just how we viewed it so we scaled back and who knows if that was far enough......time will tell, I guess?

Im pretty risk averse but I would go for it in your circumstances. £1600pm would be manageable on one wage (at least in the short term) so it doesn’t sound like you’re overstretching yourself.

We bought our first home (not dream but perfectly fine) a few years ago and our repayments are £1100pm. We could have borrowed 2x as much to live in a bigger house and/or a fancier area but my biggest anxiety was affordability if circumstances change. My dad died when I was 12 so I’m very aware how quickly things can change!

The mortgage is better for return on investment? With negative equity it would be a drag on investment and using borrowed money for investment is always how the dumb money gets rinsed? I don"t view either strategy as an "investment" because housing is a basic need, in pure accounting terms rent is a "cost" and a mortgage is a "debt" both very different and both carry very different legal consequence if problems arise.

Yes, assuming negative equity. Every investment is a gamble. I've never had negative equity but never say never.

Anyway, I don't want to debate the pros/cons of renting versus mortgage since that was not what the OP asked about. It seems rude to derail!