Stuck in a 1 bedroom flat - is there anything we can do?

lindsaygalaxy

I was going to suggest applying for housing benefit as if you have a low income they will pay the interest pasrt i believe, but not if your OH is earning £23000.
This should be leaving you will around £700 a month after mortgage, plus your Child benefit plus a minimum of £10.50 a month tax credits. so thats about another £100. For £800 you should be able to cover other costs.


As for moving, i would be tempted to price to sell and get out while you can. I wouldnt move in with your mother though but would rent, or by some miracle try the council/LA. You may not be able to save a lot more money, but its always hard living with family once you have moved out.

RoxieW

robin_banks wrote: »

It is fair enough, there are people in a far worse predicament than yourselves.

You'd be even worse off under shared ownership, it's a con and be thankful you're not eligible for this scheme.

Why do people seem to spout this as gospel? We bought a shared ownership property in 2004 - I compared sold for prices of 100% purchase properties on the street and they compared well - we didnt pay any 'premium'. We pay £450 in total (£325 mortgage, £125 rent) for a lovely 3 bed house in a quiet area, 5 mins walk from local schools and adjacent to playing fields and a nature walk. With the mort we could get at the time (£70,000) we'd have been looking at a 2 bed council house in a horrid area - if that! You couldnt even buy a terrace in the slums! The 50% rent is a lot lower then what it would be privately, we've had a lovely home for us and our son for the past 5 years and we've got our foot on the property ladder. After a year we had the option to purchase 100% of the property at market value - the only reason we havent done that is because shared ownership properties are easier to sell around here. In fact, we were going to sell last autumn and had 2 asking price offers of £75K for the 50% share. We paid 60K. This was within a month in a tough market.
I think shared ownership - if you ensure you're not paying a mark up or the rent portion is excessive - can be a good option for first time buyers. It's worked out for us.

Dick_here

I've nothing positive to add, apart from the fact that you've at least got a child which is a huge positive.

In the early 90s recession, we bought a 1 bed place for 55k with a 5% deposit, and sold it 3 and a half years later for 40k. We were both working full-time and could pay the mortgage but had very little left over. We wanted to move on and think of a family but had neither the money or space. We felt trapped. We borrowed from parents, saved as much as we possibly could ourselves, and sold at a huge loss and moved back in with parents for a few months.

What I'd also do now is to switch to a repayment mortgage - at least what you owe will very slowly diminish. Good luck, I feel for you.

Essexgirl81

!!!!!!_here wrote: »

I've nothing positive to add, apart from the fact that you've at least got a child which is a huge positive.

What I'd also do now is to switch to a repayment mortgage - at least what you owe will very slowly diminish. Good luck, I feel for you.

Unfortunately, we are paying the £750 per month on a repayment basis. It's not an interest only mortgage or anything like that although just to put it into perspective: we borrowed £108,000 over 38 years. In theory, if we stayed in the flat and kept paying out until 2043 then we would have paid Birmingham Midshires......£300,000!!!!! :eek:

Essexgirl81

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

I doubt you'll get what you paid for your flat. The problem is that it's a relatively new estate and there are loads of similar flats and houses. I'd expect to pay less than that for a 1 bed in Chelmsford which is generally more desireable than Braintree.

Have you tried either Tesco of which there is one very near you and another large one not so far? As already suggested bar work, cleaning, ironing anything that will bring in extra cash will help to keep you going. Is there any possibiltiy that you could earn more money than your husband?

Looking after children is hard at the best of times and being cramped desn't help but it looks as though staying put is going to be your only option.

We tried to find a flat in Chelmsford in late 2004 but we couldn't afford it unfortunately. In 2006/07 we still couldn't afford that area so i'd be quite shocked if it's cheaper than Braintree even with the current state of affairs! But maybe i'm wrong about this!!

Anyway, you have a point about the two Tesco's being nearby. I have applied for both but heard nothing back yet. I'm also keeping my eyes peeled for anything else but yes it has to be in the evening really to get the benefit of not having to pay out for childcare. It's never going to be a possibility that I could earn more than my husband as I don't have a degree. The most i've ever earned a year is £16,500. My last job was worth £14,500 a year.

Essexgirl81

barnaby-bear wrote: »

GSK, JM?

The two friends of my husband that were made redundant recently unfortunately worked for GlaxoSmithKline and Generics UK respectively. JM I believe is in Royston, Hertfordshire so it would deffo mean a re-location for us......hmmmmm part of the prob eh? And also, I don't think it's really a straightforward drive to there from Braintree every day.

shirlgirl2004

Just keep looking you'll find something.

I don't think all flats in Chelmsford are cheaper but you get the ones that are more realistically priced. I've been looking and one sold within a week at £95k it was in a block that had been refurbed about 4 years ago so looked really nice and was close to town. There's another close to town up for £100 but it's older and needs a tidy up (not a lot) and it has been on the market since August. I would say average 1 bed flat price in Chelmsford is £105k but these aren't selling. I think most people would prefer Chelmsford being quicker to get to London and generally having more facilities and employment opportunities (well in normal times!). I think those on the market for £105 just aren't being realistic about the market unfortunately but if they don't need to sell then I guess they don't have to be realisitc. A relative has had her 1 bed Chelmsford flat on the market for over a year because she is getting married and wants to start a family. I guess she doesn't want to take the loss though as she bought near the peak.

Essexgirl81

carolt wrote: »

It is one of the great ironies of our age that the govt will give you money to pay someone else to look after your child but none if you actually want to spend time with your own child.

Loopy.

Yes , I know. I once worked out (when I was still working) that I would be better off financially if I were to leave my husband and live as a single parent with our daughter. 70% of the childcare costs would have been covered so I could have gone to work full-time, housing benefit would have helped me with a private rent and I would have got more child tax credit and that's just for starters.

Personally though, i'd rather stick it out with us all staying together and going without a few things for a while.

CHARDONNAY_3

You would be better off as a single mother on benefits but it seems you have too much self respect for that.

I don't have any real advice but it's refreshing to see someone who takes responsibilty for their life & I think that when you're in a better postion in the future, you'll appreciate it all the more.

Good luck

wymondham

Interesting situation. I think you can consider two extreme options as you're caught in the 'twilight zone' where you're stuck but can't move.

Either struggle like mad and go all out for keeping the place and work doing extra jobs for however long it's necessary until you can move on, or ........ jump completely the other way and 'deliberately' get repossessed - this way you're then classed as homeless and the benefits system kicks in and works for you rather than against. This obviously has severe implications which you should consider, such as a shot credit rating etc, but this is about evaluating the end result.

I know these options are off the wall, but just food for thought...!

Good luck.