Advice on relocating as homeowners with school deadline and limited finances

[MsPigle]

Hello everyone,

Hoping you don’t mind a very general (rather long!) plea for help/advice.

We think we want to relocate.

Although I have moved house about 30 times (not exaggerating I counted once!), these have all been from and to rented properties.

This would be our first time relocating as home owners.

Added to that, when we bought our current house we were already living in it as renters and it was a private sale between us and a very close family friend, so we didn’t actually move house at all and didn’t have to deal with estate agents etc etc.

We also didn’t pay any stamp duty as we were first time buyers and the house price was under the threshold.

What I wanted to ask about was the logistics of it all.

What order do we do everything in and how do we go about it?

I’m thinking we need to do it in four stages: Rent our house, rent in the new location, then sell our house in about a year’s time then buy in the new location?

Or:
Do we sell our house straightaway and rent in the new location, then buy?

Or:
Do we try and sell our house and buy at the same time?

What else do we need to consider, do, decide?

Some background info:
We had a mortgage for 2 years and then renewed the mortgage for another 2 years. The current mortgage is due to end at the beginning of Dec this year 2026.

We are relocating for the start of secondary school so we need to somehow be near the new school by this September. (It’s not a state school so no issues with regards to qualifying address, attendance, losing a place etc.)

Jobs: I will keep my current job after we’ve moved because I can work remotely a lot of the time and the commute when I do have to be on site is doable.

My OH is not in a job where he can work remotely or hybrid, he has to be present on site 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. He will have to move jobs and get a job in the new location.

We don’t have the money for there to be any gaps in employment.

We don’t have the money to be paying for two housing costs at the same time. Eg We can’t be paying the mortgage and paying rent at the same time. We can only have one housing outgoing at a time.

The house we own will sell quickly and be sought after. (It’s a very desirable house on a very desirable street in a city with a housing shortage.)

We think we have about £150k of equity in the house. (Will obviously depend on sale price.)

Our current monthly mortgage payments are very high - £1,900 per month. (Well that’s high to me anyway! And it’s high in relation to our income.)

We don’t have any savings.

We owe money to family/friends as we didn’t have a deposit for the first house. We are paying this back (it was loaned not gifted). These loans are not secured against the current property and don’t have to be paid back if we sell this house. We might pay one back in full if we sell as we are paying interest on it. The other loan is a longterm arrangement with no interest. The person who loaned it is happy as long as they are being paid back monthly as they don’t really ‘need’ the money, if that makes sense.

I think that’s all the relevant information.

I just have a massive black hole with no knowledge or experience of this at all and I freeze/go into a panic when I try to think about it.

So please be kind as I am literally clueless and completely naive and have no idea where to start, what to do first, how to break it down into smaller steps.

At the moment it just feels completely unachievable and overwhelming.

Thank you so much for your time and help!

When we relocated, we sold our house and rented for three months in the new area, whilst we looked for new jobs and a house to buy. We used savings and the money from the sale of our house to fund this.

I don't think you'll manage this in such a short time frame.

I don’t think you appreciate the cost and stress of renting your current home out. I would put it on the market now and hope that you can sell and purchase within 6 months whilst living in rented accommodation yourself.

DH rented a place in week- there sites that offer that - and commuted back and forth at weekends - he was on probation for a year so didn't want to move then also had mortage penalties to wait out then took over a year to sell as market was poor. So for us it was a long while and commute and in week renting wasn't cheap but come out of monthly wages - so didn't need savings.

We'd been looking at was was avalibable to buy in new area. Once we had an offer DH went and did mid week evening looks. Our buyers wanted a quick move as their buyers were pushing - and house we wanted dragged feet - so had to decouple and ended up with stuff in rental and in with family - was ussppoed to be a few weeks took all bloody summer.

We tried to avoid moving to rental in new area - two moves - two lots of cost and with school places might mean two moves or long commutes if new house was not in rental area bit. It dragged on so long though we were starting to look at it as an option though.

Rentals will want deposit and first month rent - moviong costs money - it was around 5K a decade ago be way more now.

We were trying to get move done before DD1 secondary application house was on market in her yr 5- we had a year on market and only got in place few weeks into Y6 term - and appliiation I think was late oct/nov.

We had no say in which schools had primary places - had to take what there was which was actually okay in end.

If it a large move it's not easy - to sell and buy at same time especially on school year timetable but it's not impossible and it will cost so savings would be extremely helpful.

The other option I was thinking of was renting v cheap, small place in new location. And getting lodgers in two rooms in current house. OH could stay in one room in current house during the week to work. This would then buy us time for OH to get a job in new place & to sell house with no deadline pressure to sell.

It was a room rental - people wanting a weekday lodger. He got access to kitchen and place to store stuff.

It went on so long for us that there were actually two locations he lived like that as. First knowing second hosuehold wanting that - found first with week room rental sites.

Thank you yes. It’s this type of ‘how’ advice I am looking for, thank you.

Thank you very helpful yes.

Lodger do tend to have fewer rights so may well be better than renting out the house.

I'd look at rental costs in the new area - and see how much deposit and rent they'd need up front - but I do think that sounds doable - you can get the property on your timetable and apply at usualy time for secondary school place but keep larger move and uncertain timetable - house selling and job hunting in background.

Thank you yes. This is the info and detail I need much appreciated.

Thanks can you say more about ERC and porting mortgage? Am completely clueless…

Thank you this is very helpful and appreciated.

You mentioned your current product is in place until December. If you sell before then you’ll have to pay the ERC. If you stay with the same lender and then port your mortgage to the new property to get the ERC waived you have to complete (on the new house) within an allocated time frame. It’s usually 3 months - this should be outlined in your mortgage conditions.

If you sell after December when your fixed term product ends then you shouldn’t have an ERC as your mortgage will move to a variable rate.

If you don't have the money for any gaps in employment how do you have the money for the school fees? Or is someone else paying?

Without savings for a deposit you may struggle to get a mortgage offer, especially if only one of you is working. Why are you moving? Best to sell and either rent(while you familiarise with area) or buy. Sounds like you may need to use some of the equity while he looks for work and reimburse your relatives.

I’m a landlord. While a tenant can give notice from day one, a landlord cannot give notice for tenant to quit in the first year, so if you rent out you are tied to at least a year (unless the tenant voluntarily agrees to surrender before then). So you will be paying your mortgage AND rent in your new location for that year, and likely much longer as it will take time to sell and there will inevitably be a time when you are not receiving rent but still paying the mortgage plus rent on your next home. Will rent even cover the mortgage and associated costs with maintaining a property? Even if your house sold first day on the market it can easily take four months to complete, with associated costs with no money coming in.
If you get lodgers in, one of the owners (your DH in this case) must live there too. If he moved out they instantly become tenants with the usual rights of tenants. How would you cope with that separation?
You say the two hour commute is the preferred location - is he willing to do that indefinitely or will the other location win out?
I was in a similar position in that I was moving 80 miles to an area and the deadline was my DD starting her new sixth form. I started much earlier in the year and was hoping to do a simultaneous sell/buy. I found a buyer but unfortunately two of the houses I tried to buy fell apart. I decided to continue with the sale and me, my DD and two dogs ended up in three different Airbnbs for a period of eight weeks. It could have been much longer but I found an empty property where the sale had collapsed but all paperwork ready to go and I had a sharp lawyer so the process only took five weeks. But man it was stressful! I did not contemplate renting as at the time I would be tied to a years lease and with dogs not so easy to find a place - rents here are very high too.
My DD did not cope at all well with the move to the new school. It was a rough few months. Unlike you, I did not have the same job situation (I’m a widow so just me) But I did have money to pay for the Airbnbs from the sale of my house.
I think with the new rules, unless you are prepared to wait up to 18 months (or more), renting out your old house isn’t really sensible. Or if you are willing to then do that. Have you researched the rentals in the new location? Around here there’s no such thing as ‘cheap’ - a two bed house would rent for £2800/month and there aren’t that many about. Obviously your area might be cheaper but have you actually looked?
It seems the main driver for your move is your child’s schooling and that you want to reduce your mortgage. Moving costs much more than the price of the house - stamp duty, lawyers and surveyor and moving your stuff. You may have to put things in storage too.
If you owe money and have no savings how are you affording private school? Is there a reason state is not an option? Are the desired locations because of the schools? Have you not had to put a deposit down to guarantee a place? My children attended private school and you couldn’t just rock up with a cheque in hand, applications were competitive and once offered a spot you had X days to accept and pay a deposit.
I think you need to decide on the location and your DH looks for a job there. Put your house on the market and you investigate rentals. You and child move to new rental for start of school. Hope your house sells relatively quickly and assume you will complete within six months. That still takes you to December. Your DH remains in the house and working at his job til the house sells - if possible take in a couple short term lodgers. Then if he gets a new job then he either commutes short term or moves (no lodgers). Once you get a buyer you can start looking to buy in new location. If all goes as planned your house sells, your DH starts a new job, and you are all back together by Christmas with cash in the bank and you can start looking in earnest for a new property.
However, even with the best scenario there will be a time that you will be paying a mortgage and paying for rent. So how can you get the money to cover that? And you will be paying out even more: deposit on rental, school fees, partial moving costs…
Logistics are one thing, but money is key and this will require quite a bit of juggling.
I’d sit you and DH down with pen and paper and work out the different options in a REALISTIC time frame. I’d come to the table armed with: rental costs in both new locations. Commuting costs for your DH. Rental value on your existing house. Rental demand in your area. Possible income from lodgers. Possible sales price for your house. What is the average on the market to completion timescale in your area? Approximate moving costs. Stamp duty and other fees and new house budget. School fees (don’t forget annual increases). Don’t guess these figures, research them.
Draw out on paper the various options and that may help clarify your decision making process.

Do NOT rent out your current home. You’ll never sell with tenants in situ. It also sounds like your finances are precarious and you couldn’t afford any periods where no rent is paid (whether through voids, or tenants not paying). So rule that out.

Which leaves you with selling - however it sounds like you’re tied into your current mortgage till December. Can it be ported? Can you afford the redemption penalty?

If the answer to those is ‘no’ then get it on the market and start house hunting in the new area. It’s a slight pain to be in a chain but most of us are when we’re buying so don’t worry too much about that.

If though you can afford the mortgage redemption, then rent (sort out a tenancy before your dh quits his job otherwise you may not meet affordability), and house hunt at leisure.

Realistically if you’re short on money I don’t think you can sell before December as it’s likely you have to pay ERC. Check this as the charges decreased every year, but I would expect them to be 2-5% of outstanding mortgage. Some mortgages you can port but there’s rules about this so in your case I would not bother since selling will likely take you to past September anyway. If you can get lodgers and a cheap rental in new place that seems the most cost effective option. You would also have a bit more time to sort the job situation.

You can usually port an existing mortgage to a new property hence why they need to sell and rebuy simultaneously.

It was a long time ago, but when I was at school, kids moving school was fairly common (obviously not in an exam year), usually over one of the holidays but occasionally mid-term. Realistically even if you had the money, you're not going to find a house to buy, sell your house and get it over the line by September, let alone your husband finding a new job. Presumably he has to give notice so that's another stopper. Your best bet is for him to find a new job - hopefully he has an in demand skill, where the new employer will pay a substantial amount for relocation, jobs like that are as rare as rocking horse shit nowadays

As kindly put as I can, I dont think you can afford to move.
You bought your property in 2022 at peak prices. The 150k equity you hope to have is likley to be wildly optimistic. Four years on you still haven't finished repayments on the loans for the origional deposit, plus no savings.
Its unlikely that if you rent your house you will cover a £1900 mortguage (which will be a little higher once you switch to a BTL loan, and interest rates will increase this year too). You then need to cover the mortgage shortfall AND pay rental on another property.
I just dont think its achievable without setting yourself up for a potential disaster - you have zero safety margin.

We relocated in 2021, the relocation has worked out really well for us. This is how we went about it, lots of desk research first, property prices, crime stats, narrowing down areas that would suit us. Then we hired an Airbnb in one of the areas we were considering for a few nights to see what we thought of the area etc. prepared our house for marketing. Sold fairly quickly, started viewing at weekends, be prepared for hotel costs/petrol etc, took 3 weekends to find our new property, it was tiring as new location was 3.5hrs from where we used to live.

Things you need to consider are the costs of removals, solicitor, arrangements fees etc (we didn’t need mortgage) buying cash from sale. Not sure how you would be able to do this without savings, a relocation isn’t something you usually do without planning for it financially.

I wish you all the best, with whatever you decide.

I'd talk with the school about whether they can recommend any host families and what those costs would be - it might be that's a cheaper and less disruptive for September solution than anything else. She operates effectively like a boarder Mon - Thursday and travels home on a Friday.

Then you can sell your house and buy one near the school at your leisure without needing to rent anywhere.

I'd also look at potential schools nearer where you currently live because unless you're talking about a dyslexia specialist or maybe one of the specialist art/dance type schools there ought to be something suitable closer to home.

There'll be about £10k in solicitors fees / moving costs / stamp duty if you were going from your house straight to another owned property. All of your interim steps are going to increase your costs.

Find yourself a mortgage broker to check the current position on lending when someone is about to change jobs.

Homeowners sell, buy and relocate in one transaction as that's the most cost effective way. The process takes about 6 months on average so you'll never make it for September. Buying and selling is not necessarily smooth as your sale could fall through and you could then loose the property you want to buy as well as they may not want to wait till you have a new buyer.

You have to also factor in that you can't just rent your house - you need to register as a landlord and jump through quite a lot of hoops. Can be very difficult to get tenants out when you decide to sell. And then there's the tax implications.

The big issue is with the schools ( yes I suffered bad bullying at my first secondary school, from private primary, to state secondary, and moved to different state secondary school, ) much happier .
Children adapt, given your financial situation, I would think very carefully about any move .