Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme Discussion Area

I'm writing for my daughter who is too distressed to write herself.

She is a single mum, divorced three years ago, with an eight year old daughter. She's a self-employed music teacher who also taught on a visiting basis for the local ed authority at a primary school.

Her finance has a new job in Swindon and has rented a house in SW Oxfordshire for them all to live in and to have his three children to stay too. My daughter put her house on the market in October and had one person to look at it. She's now changed agent who will market more agressively. She'd planned to move to Oxfordshire this month to start her new life and my grand-daughter had been to the new school, chosen her bedroom in the new house etc.

Now, her fiance has said he's heard he may be made redundant as soon as he starts the job on the 23rd Feb because the government have pulled the cash from the project he was to have worked on!!:mad:

She's now decided to stay here for the time being, but the trouble is that many of her pupils have already found another teacher so her income will decrease quite drastically. I was going to take some of the younger ones on, so she can obviously keep those. But she now won't be able to keep up the mortage payments while waiting to sell the house! She's with Abbey National and has always had an interest only mortgage of £375 a month.

It seems to unfair that people who rent can have help with their rental payments, but those in trouble with mortgage payments have to suffer. Until two months ago she'd never missed a payment and it's been a real struggle.

Someone told me that sometimes you can get help with interest being paid on the mortgage, not the mortgage itself, but as she's only paying interest, would that apply.

She claims income support and child benefit and has a very small disability allowance.

Is there ANYTHING that she can do or go to for help? She's spent most of this afternoon going through stuff, changing to cheaper insurance options and breakdown cover and dispensing with any insurance that isn't absolutely necessary. She hasn't got life insurance as she had a rare gynae cancer five years ago and nobody will cover her. She's checked every six months and she's absolutely fine and it's highly unlikely it'll come back as it was to do with pregnancy and she doesn't want more children.

She's got an interview with the CAB but they can't fit her in till 17th and she'll have worried herself ill by then.

Sorry it's so long, but none of us have ever had anything to do with the benefits system and don't know the ropes.

Any help or advice would be very gratefully and thankfully received.