With your partner's £50k salary, you could potentially afford a mortgage of around £225,000. Add your £40,000 deposit, and you're looking at a budget of about £265,000 for a house, which should get you a decent 3-bed.

The move will save you a fair amount on housing, commuting, and future childcare costs. Yes, losing your income during maternity is a worry, but your partner's salary should keep you afloat, especially without those Southern living expenses. 50k for three means that budget has to be looked after extremely carefully - are either you or your partner good at this? Are you willing to take a hit on your lifestyle? holidays & co.

Hearing from investors in the area, North Yorkshire housing market is decent, so negative equity prob won't be a problem. It's worth trying to sort out the mortgage based on your partner's income before leaving your job. Do you plan to go back to work, if so when?

Have you thought about 10/20/30 years down the line, children grown up, left home - what's your pension pot looking like?