I'd like my own home, but can i get one?

CazandCo_2

Hi all,

I am currently privately renting a 2 bedroom house for £595 per month, but i would really love to own a home.

I am seperated with an 8 yr old daughter living with me. My income is £21,500 gross per year and i claim housing benefit and child tax credit.

I've found the Homebuy website and was wondering what options may be available to me, but everything i have read suggests i need a deposit. I can't raise a deposit.

Is there any way i can buy a house?

Cannon_Fodder

If you do not have a penny spare each month, to save towards a deposit, then the extra costs associated with being an owner, would mean you would lose the house to repossession, or run up debts for utilities etc in trying to keep it.

Stay renting until you develop a level of spending that allows you to save a deposit. When you do buy, the saving money will then become spare to meet the extra costs of owning.

Try posting your SOA on the debt-free forum, even if you have no debts, for advice on how to trim your budget.

KS1977

I agree with Cannonfodder.....You really do not want to be worrying about paying mortgages when you are trying to provide for both your daughter and yourself. If you are really dead set on owning your own home, then I am sure waiting a year or so which will enable you to save in the meantime, and looking around, cannot harm things. As they say....What will be will be and things happen for a reason! So hang on in there for now.

The best things come to those who wait

Jowo_2

How much child tax credits, child benefit and housing benefit, plus any CSA do you receive each month on top of your net monthly income of £1400? It won't be considered as income from a lender.

Just using some rough figures from entitled to (therefore, lots of latitude for error on my part particularly in the area of HB, feel free to correct), this could be weekly tax credits of £30, HB of £30 and CB of £20, equivalent to an additional monthly income of £350.

If that's the case, if you cannot save towards when your net income is £1750 per month, then how can you cope on a mortage when there is an interest rate rise, plus you will no longer be eligible for housing benefit, too, so suffer a drop in income?

TBeckett100

to be honest if the state is helping you live in rented via handouts and benefits, you really cannot afford to own, believe me when a boiler blows or a pipe leaks there is no such thing as saving up for it.

P.S I am not being crude about your entitled benefits, I am just saying if your salary cannot fully support you, a mortgage which could rise in the future would give your child less security.

BitterAndTwisted

What would a sensible person do when their desires and expectations exceed their ability to provide them? Modify those expectations.

As was observed earlier, if you cannot save to raise a decent deposit then you patently cannot afford all of the expenses associated with repairing and maintaining a property especially once interest-rates rise again, which they shall eventually. For some of us, renting is the most sensible long-term option

CazandCo_2

You're right, thanks for bringing me back down to earth. It would be hard to meet the costs of repairs in a home that i own especially if something like the boiler broke.

@Jowo you guessed pretty much right that i get around £350. I do have debts at the moment and i am trying to reduce them by paying some off, but i just don't have the spare funds to do so. This has been hampered by a lack of pay rise for three years. There is simply nothing else i can reduce. I don't have any other outgoings. I havent had a hair cut for 6 months, i dont go out, i dont have a mobile phone nor sky tv etc. I guess i am just stuck in limbo land at the moment.

I just thought perhaps that buying a house and having a mortgage would work out cheaper than what i pay in rent each month, but i guess you can only get an affordable mortgage when you have a partner and your income is doubled. Single people don't have much chance.

I guess i was just dreaming. Maybe one day...

At 40 years old i was hoping for sooner rather than later.

TBeckett100

CazandCo wrote: »

You're right, thanks for bringing me back down to earth. It would be hard to meet the costs of repairs in a home that i own especially if something like the boiler broke.

@Jowo you guessed pretty much right that i get around £350. I do have debts at the moment and i am trying to reduce them by paying some off, but i just don't have the spare funds to do so. This has been hampered by a lack of pay rise for three years. There is simply nothing else i can reduce. I don't have any other outgoings. I havent had a hair cut for 6 months, i dont go out, i dont have a mobile phone nor sky tv etc. I guess i am just stuck in limbo land at the moment.

I just thought perhaps that buying a house and having a mortgage would work out cheaper than what i pay in rent each month, but i guess you can only get an affordable mortgage when you have a partner and your income is doubled. Single people don't have much chance.

I guess i was just dreaming. Maybe one day...

post your photo, you never know.

Fire_Fox

CazandCo wrote: »

Hi all,

I am currently privately renting a 2 bedroom house for £595 per month, but i would really love to own a home.

I am seperated with an 8 yr old daughter living with me. My income is £21,500 gross per year and i claim housing benefit and child tax credit.

I've found the Homebuy website and was wondering what options may be available to me, but everything i have read suggests i need a deposit. I can't raise a deposit.

Is there any way i can buy a house?

Income for mortgage purposes does not include benefits. You will need at least a 10% deposit to get any lender to touch you in this climate. If you cannot raise a deposit how do you expect to be able to pay for repairs and maintenance?

BitterAndTwisted

CazandCo wrote: »

I do have debts at the moment and i am trying to reduce them by paying some off, but i just don't have the spare funds to do so. This has been hampered by a lack of pay rise for three years. There is simply nothing else i can reduce. I don't have any other outgoings. I havent had a hair cut for 6 months, i dont go out, i dont have a mobile phone nor sky tv etc. I guess i am just stuck in limbo land at the moment.

You are a candidate for joining the lovely regulars on the Old Style part of the forum. There is sooooooooooo very much information to be had about how to reduce your budget and to make what little money you do have go further and work harder for you. There is always something you can cut back on, spend less on or do without if you have the will. Some of the moneysaving tips are fun, too. Being skint does not have to mean going without everything that's enjoyable, check out the Shabby Chic thread for proof