Dont know what to do for the best

coljacks

Right the situation at the moment is me and OH have 3 kids living in a 3 bed house. Value approx £110- 120k. Mortgage o/s £65k. OH is self employed in the building trade. At the moment we are living on the bread line, work is very slack and so far he has had 3 months without work over this year so far. Because of this we have arrears on our mortgage- we have made an arrangement with the lender and are paying back at an agreed rate. What I am thinking about is selling the house and renting as I cant see the building trade improving that much in the forseeable future, and then once I have finished my degree buying a property again.

I am just not sure if this is the right decision to make. I dont want to stay and end up getting the house repossessed and ending up with nothing, yet I dont want to throw away the hard work that we have done to get the house as we want it. Also we have never rented before and are not sure if it would be right for us.

If any one has got any suggestions or has been in this situation then I would be grateful for any feedback. Thanks.

lynzpower

hiya

sorry to hear of your situation.

Firstly I would be recommending that OH looks for a new job - ANY JOB. He may have to take some manual labour of other kinds to ensure some sort of income. He can supplement this with repair work for neighbours and other adhoc skilled work.

Also worth looking at how well his advertising is looking, why not ask advice on the "small biz" board.

Have you applied for all the benefits you might be entitled to? Tax credits maybe?
Are you working at all?

I know this is extreme but can you put off next year ( from Septembers) start of the course, defer it for a year, and work, to keep a roof over your head?

the situation many find themselves in is that even if they want to sell they cant, and reposession looms.

mlz1413

with a mortgage of 65K I really doubt you could rent for less than your I/O mortgage payment and with 3 children you can't really downsize from 3 beds.

Have a look at what is on the rental market in your local paper and EA to satisfy yourself that this is or isn't the case and then as lynzpower has said make sure you are claiming everything you can, try CAB for extra advise.

Also has OH tried temp agencies? Any work is better than none. Also you maybe doing a degree but can you work nights when OH is home - I know it will be tough but might be worth looking into.

Good Luck!