Advice needed - Overcrowded and can't move

Ashley3283

Hi,
Not sure if this is the right place for this but here goes.
We bought our one bedroom house just over 3 years ago, we have since had a baby and had always planned to move to a larger property before he was one.
He is now 2 and still sharing our bedroom and due to our financial circumstances changing in this time (Significant changes to child care meant that my wife had to reduce her hours at work and unsecured loans hanging over us) we are unable to increase our monthly expenditure.
A long story short, we currently pay out over £800 per month for loans that we had before we met, which are due to be repaid in 3-4 years but we can't keep our son in our room until he is 5-6!

We have thought about extending but can't increase our outgoings, we don't want to extend the term of our loans as we want to get rid of them ASAP, we can't sell our house to rent as the rent would be higher than our mortgage. The only thing that seems to be a good idea is a shared ownership property, but these tend to be available for first time buyers or key workers. We have even thought about putting a sofa bed in our living room but can't as we only have room for a small 2 seater!
As said we both work (I work 47 hours per week and my wife 21) and will be laughing in 3-4 years time.

Does anyone know if we have any other options available to us (i.e any government backed schemes etc) or any advice???

Thanks in advance

silvercar

Why not sell the house and buy or rent in a cheaper area?

When_is_the_reset?

I do feel sorry for you; you have been a victim of the credit bubble over the past decade and that easy time is over.

3 years waiting and making do is the sensible thing. Anything else will include borrowing more or extended the term - not so sensible.

Hopefully, one day everyone will see that the rush to buy our own house at crazy prices affects families and children and cannot continue.

Good luck.

Ashley3283

silvercar wrote: »

Why not sell the house and buy or rent in a cheaper area?

Our mortgage at the moment is £350 per month, renting a 2 bedroom house in our area would be double that. Also it would be a backwards step as we would no longer be on the property ladder.

When_is_the_reset? wrote: »

I do feel sorry for you; you have been a victim of the credit bubble over the past decade and that easy time is over.

3 years waiting and making do is the sensible thing. Anything else will include borrowing more or extended the term - not so sensible.

Hopefully, one day everyone will see that the rush to buy our own house at crazy prices affects families and children and cannot continue.

Good luck.

Thanks for your advice, making do is probably our only choice.

pinkshoes

Could one of you take on a second job to increase the income? It wouldn't have to be forever, but might help pay the debts off much faster.

Is there a bit of the living room that could be sectioned off for a sleeping area for your child?

pingu2209

How about making the bedroom your child's room and have a bed settee in the lounge for you. It would be until you paid your debts off.

LittleMissAspie

Maybe you could make the living room into the kid's bedroom. That would of course leave you with no living room or place to eat though.

Is it possible to get one of those consolidation loans at a lower interest rate and so shorten the term of your debts? Then you might only have to make do for two years.

I take it you've already pared your outgoings to the bone? The debt free wannabe board is good for showing you where you can save money.

silvercar

Ashley3283 wrote: »

Our mortgage at the moment is £350 per month, renting a 2 bedroom house in our area would be double that. Also it would be a backwards step as we would no longer be on the property ladder.



Thanks for your advice, making do is probably our only choice.

find a cheaper area.

Fire_Fox

Seems to me it's the £800 a month loans that are the problem not the cost of renting a two bedroom house which is only £700 a month! What about a two bedroom flat in a cheaper area? Do you run two cars and do you really need to? It isn't a backwards step to rent if it gets you out of the enormous debt crater you are in at present. Complete one of these and post on the Debt-free Wannabe board for comments:
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

blckbrd

Could you not re-mortgage to cover some, if not all, of the unsecured debt? The interest rate may be lower at least.

PasturesNew

Ashley3283 wrote: »

...we can't keep our son in our room until he is 5-6!

Whilst not ideal, I had a friend who was still sharing her parents' bedroom when she was 13.

Can you get creative with the layout of your place at all?