Getting off the property ladder - long-term let?

sapper

Hi - I'm a professional on a good salary living with my wife and 3 small kids in a terraced house purchased at the height of the boom when it was just me and my wife. Our house is comfortable but is now getting too small as the kids grow up, terraced (no side passage) and no driveway. We have talked to our bank about trading up but that doesnt seem to be a realistic option

One problem is that a large part of my income is non-guaranteed bonus. As a result, the bank is ignoring a huge % my income and as a result is severely limiting what we could borrow for a new home mortgage. Another problem is that I own a buy-to-let I cant get out of (but washing its face in rent) that is in loads of negative equity, limiting what we can borrow even more.

We have just come out of negative equity on our main house, so we could in theory, sell up and then rent a family house with enough size in a decent area - ie. come off the property ladder altogether. With my actual income (including bonus) we could easily afford it

I've got 3 small kids (1 in school) and have lived in a house I owned for the last 13 years. I always thought that renting wasn't a realistic alternative to owning in Ireland - ie. no security, cant renovate/remodel, no-one gives out 10-20 year leases etc but is that true? Is it possible to get decent 10 year+ leases for residential house with options to extend etc?

I need a nice big house for the next 15 years while I raise my kids - If we cant buy one, why can't we just get a lease on one?

L1011

I've never heard of more than a 24 month lease here and you won't find anywhere that'll let you extend either - even in countries where very long leases are common, being allowed do that much in terms of modifications would not be.