Govt Mortgage to Rent Scheme/Will it save my house?

Angiepange

All is going smoothly since we completed on our Mortagage Rescue nearly 5 months ago now, my how time flies :eek::)

I have found Housing Benefit to be a law unto themselves and its not been unusual to receive a forest of paperwork through the post from them when updating our entitlement. I have kept them fully informed of any changes in circumstances, but I have given up trying to work out how they calculate HB, its a minefield :eek:. I am grateful for the little we do get towards our rent but am still wishing for the day I get back into employment and can say goodbye to any contact I have to have with them.

As for the building work I have been waiting to hear about, I finally got a call yesterday. Approx 3 weeks of work will be starting a week on Monday. Mess :eek: but it will be a relief to get it over with as Ive been expecting it to happen since last November. And at least I am around in the day to keep an eye or should I say to provide tea and biscuits

So all in all, from a home point of view everything is good

Angiepange

Big day today, building work has started :eek:

From talking to the builders, they are doing more and more Mortgage Rescue properties.

Ive always felt isolated throughout this process as only a handful of people on here have shared the process, but its really good to hear that there are many others out there benefiting from the Mortgage Rescue Scheme

NellieNewbie

We are now tenants! :j

It all happened very quickly at the end, as we were told on a Monday that they hoped to complete on the Friday. And the good news is there was just enough money to pay off the whole of both mortgages and we are waiting for a cheque for £358!

A couple of little things which were unexpected, but not a problem -

1. As there was money left over from the sale, Orbit decided to take two months rent from the balance. This means we don't pay our first month's rent until May.

2. As we could not provide the Building Regulations documentation for work we had done to the house years ago (we know it is in the loft somewhere ), Orbit took out an indemnity insurance policy against any future problems that may arise. This cost £120 and was deducted from the balance. We are fine with this because to be honest we now know that no matter what crops up in the future, it will be Orbit's problem.

The relief has been enormous. Once we get the final paperwork through, the next stage will be to contact our creditors and tell them what we have done. Not looking forward to that at all, but now we know that no matter what happens we can stay in our home.

Thanks to Angie and everyone else for all their support and sharing their experience. :T

I will still be reading this thread though to keep up with what's happening and wish everybody good luck. :grouphug:

Angiepange

to NN :beer:

I am so pleased to hear your news :j:T:) Completion at long last, woohoo

And no shortfall to worry about either, Im so happy for you both!

It just shows how different the HA's are over issues such as the building regs. Ours were right sticklers for those and I had to get a regularisation application in place and a building inspector in to give instruction on work to be done. Like you say though NN, £120 is a small amount to pay for that reassurance.

So glad you are through it, hope you can treat yourselves maybe and have some time now to get over the stress of it all. As for the creditosr, all in good time and hope you can get sorted on that front, your home is safe now and thats the most important thing :j:j:j:j:j

xxx

NellieNewbie

Thanks Angie. It does feel weird in lots of ways, but it's given us such a boost too.

Hope the builders are not being to messy yet! What will they be starting with?

Angiepange

NellieNewbie wrote: »

Thanks Angie. It does feel weird in lots of ways, but it's given us such a boost too.

Hope the builders are not being to messy yet! What will they be starting with?

I bet it has! :T:) I remember the sheer relief on completion, oooh I can't stop smiling for you today :rotfl:

Messy yes but looks like they are trying to clean as they go so thats good. They are doing some structural work, there are 2 chimney breasts in the upstairs bedrooms (already removed downstairs) that don't meet building regs, so thats the major job! As they need suppporting with steel or complete removal, they haven't decided which yet :eek:

Also some exterior pointing, replacing one original window and a set of french doors with double glazed, new kitchen door to meet fire safety regs and a couple of other minor jobs.

Still, its all out of my control, so as long as I keep up the supply of tea and biccies Im not stressing over it all, well not too much :D

Ps Love your sig:o:A the thanks goes to you and others on here also, you all encouraged me through the process too :A

NellieNewbie

Chimney breasts are always such messy jobs. Do you mind if they are removed? Will you have to pay to redecorate afterwards or will your HA give you some help with it?

It will take some getting use to not just doing something to the house and remembering that we are now tenants and don't always have to pay.

Angiepange

They will be very messy, the house is Victorian 130 years old, so I know what the walls are like !! Im not sure on the re-decorating side, didn't think to ask . Im hoping they make good but we do have spare wall paper and paint from our original decor so we don't mind sprucing up if needed.

It does take time for it to sink in and remember you are now a tenant. Im really pleased the HA has responsibility for all the heating/boiler, electrics side of things, esp as our boiler was on its last legs before they fitted new!

But we will still decorate where we can and within budget obviously, it still feels like our home really, which I suppose is the advantage of mortgage rescue x

Angiepange

NellieNewbie wrote: »

Chimney breasts are always such messy jobs. Do you mind if they are removed?

I would rather they are removed to be honest, then we will have more wall space for furniture/bed.

We might also be able to sell the original victorian fireplaces, I think there is a local reclamation yard that might have them

But its up to the HA and builders, all comes down to cost so we'll se what they decide.

NellieNewbie

Our house still has the original CH boiler from when it was built in about 1978 and there are no plans to replace it, so I'm glad somebody else will be paying when the time comes!

My mind has moved to the garden now and sprucing that up. My DH has already started sprucing up our car port which would be taken down otherwise for safety reasons (picked up on the Decent Homes Survey). It feels so good to be able to do things around the house again. We've not got much money, but at least now we have some!