The scary housing cost of baby number two
Friday, 11 November 2011 9:39 AM
Housing a second child will cost you almost £60,000, according to new research from HSBC.
The bank says the average cost of a third bedroom in Britain is £59,500 or 1.6 times average household income. The three-bedroom home costs 38 per cent more than a two-bedroom one.
It surveyed 1,000 parents with two more kids to ask them how they changed their lifestyles. Some 60 per cent had moved house as a result of having their first or second child, with 35 per cent moving from a two to a three-bedroom property, 11 per cent from a one- to a two-bed and 13 per cent from a three- to a four-bed.
London unsurprisingly emerges as the most expensive place to have a second child, with a three-bed home costing £163,270 more than a two-bed, or 3.6 times average household income. The cheapest region is Yorkshire at £31,467 or 1.0 times average income.
Looking at a county level, Hertfordshire is second most expensive behind London for that extra bedroom and the cheapest places are Swansea and Orkney.
Bruno Genovese, head of savings at HSBC, said "The second child seems to be catalyst for many families moving to a larger home which is often the largest financial outlay they will ever undertake."
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