Housing second child costs £60,000
While most families think that their first baby will require more financial outlay than subsequent children, new research suggests that the second child may be more expensive because the family may have to move to a larger house.
Families with a second baby on the way are paying an average of £60,000 to move to larger accommodation according to a survey of 1,000 parents by HSBC.
The average price of a two-bedroom house was found to be £156,992, increasing by 38 per cent to £216,472 for a three-bedroom home.
Unsurprisingly, London was found to be the most expensive place to move house, while Yorkshire was found to be the most affordable.
Most growing families face moving house at some stage and 60 per cent of those surveyed said that they had moved because of the birth of either their first or second child.
Thirty-five per cent of parents who took part in the survey had moved from a two to a three-bedroom property, 11 per cent had moved from a one bedroom to a two-bedroom property and 13 per cent from a three to a four-bed.
Some parents who took part in the survey had chosen to extend their home rather than relocate, and with the average cost of an extension being £21,256 this could be a cost-effective alternative.
The increasing cost of bringing up a family is expected to result in UK families becoming smaller.
As well as the financial outlay involved in relocating, families are also facing a shortage of houses.
Last month the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) published a report suggesting that the older generation should be encouraged to downsize in order to free-up living space for families.
The IF’s controversial report suggested that 16 million people in the UK live in accommodation that is larger than they need.
The group is calling on the government to offer tax breaks to people who downsize, and to exempt them from Stamp Duty, in order to encourage them to move and free up family housing.
It also wants council tax to be replaced with a land tax which reflects the social cost of occupying a house which is larger than necessary.
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