changing mortgage while on income support

alidee_2

hi
firstly apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on forum.
i am in the process of getting a divorce and my ex is letting me keep the house which has approx £65k equity in it.

the breakdown is - mortgage £112,000 about 22yrs left on it. house value approx £180,000 to £190,000.

im at the moment on income support as a lone parent with 3 children.

im considering a move to a smaller house prob about £160,000-£165,000 in value.

the mortgage company are aware of my circumstances now as DSS have agreed to pay my mortgage (dont know yet how much).

does anyone know how i go about changing my mortgage to a different provider as my current mortgage is bit pricey (even tho interest only mortgage).

as i am downsizing and have equity to use to put towards the new house will a mortgage company frown on me being on benefits ? and will the DSS still pay my new mortgage ? sorry to be pain but gettin info out of DSS can be very difficult :mad:

guess i can self- certify at end of day :rolleyes:

sorry to waffle on but hope someone can enlighten me.

ta

alidee

raq

Hope you do get the answers you are looking for.

Also chin up as you sound so positive at this early stage.

Good luck. I'll keep a look out for these replies as I am on wftc and tax credit, husband works but we will be changing over our mortgage this year.

silvercar

I wonder whether the costs of moving will outweigh the benefits of downsizing. You are looking at a property worth £20,000 less. You will have selling costs, legal costs, mortgage costs, surveys, stamp duty, removals etc this could easily come to £10,000.

DSS pay interest only not capital upto a maximum of the interest on a £100,000 mortgage. There is also a qualifying period before they start paying. You need to check whether the time clock start again if you move mortgages.

Also check whether your ex is still happy to let you have all the equity if you sell. Sometimes divorce agreements are made with the proviso that the moving out partner gets some equity when the property is sold.

alidee_2

thanks for your comments raq and hope things turn out ok for you too.

thanks to silvercar. the house im in at the moment is huge and will need lots of work externally soon which i cant afford. i also have problems with noisy neighbours. i understand what you are saying about the costs of moving. i hope to move to a smaller house but in a better area with garden/garage to a low maintenance house with lower bills.
and im hoping beacuse my mortgage is interest only that they will pay the £100,000 but its a waiting game. they have explained the qualifying period to me and all is ok there. thanks to both of you again for taking the time out to reply

alidee

alidee_2

oh and yes he is still in agreement about the equity thank goodness - long story lol

seeing my solicitor again on monday

alidee

vix2000

don't know if it is still the same but i needed to buy my ex out as he wasn't contributing and i didn't intend struggling to pay the mortgage income support didn't cover for years for him to benefit from the equity. I was told that income support does not qualify as income for mortgage purposes and I had to get my parents as guarantors. Might be different now?