House split up, can't afford to buy

pink4

Hi,

Can anyone out there help.

My husband and I are about to separate, when we sell the house, we will both have approx £65K, this won't be enough for me to buy another house for myself and our 4 children, I would need around another £35K on top - and as I am nearly 50 not sure how I would manage a mortgage of that amount.

Can anyone tell me how benefits work, would I be entitled to a council house with £65K in the bank? and would I be entitled to any benefits. I currently work 18hrs per week (have worked all my life, mostly full time).

Many thanks

skater_kat

you can rent privately for a fair few years on 65k.

RAS

Hi

You really do need some proper legal advice because if you have to provide accomodation for 4 children, your ex should not be getting 50% of the equity, or anything like.

Have you checked www.turn2us.org.uk to find out what help you would get towards your mortgage payments if you stayed int eh house?

You would them sell when the eldeest was 18/left Ft education and split the equity (likely to be mesher order to protect your payments meanwhile).

rogerblack

In addition, if the house is not sold, and you live there, he will be entitled to housing benefit, though he may have a right to a share of the house.

Oldernotwiser

I can't see why getting a small mortgage like this will be a problem - you have nearly 20 years of working life ahead of you and, presumably, won't be working part time for much longer.

Hammyman

Where do you live? Where I am £65k would be a 65% deposit on quite a lot of houses. In Hull it'd buy you a house, pay the fees and give you money for decorating.

And even if you were entitled to a council house, demand outstrips supply and the fact you have kids won't get you one any quicker whilst you are able to rent privately. As skater_kat says, £65k pays the rent for quite a long time - 10 years around here.

AnxiousMum

And in Kent, £65k wouldn't be enough of a downpayment on a house big enough for a woman and kids where a part time wage was responsible for paying the humungous mortgage it would bring! It would also only rent a house for a maximum five years

sarflee

As stated above, a 50/50 split is very unlikely if you are housing any children in full time education. There are also pension pots etc to take into account so you definitely need some legal advise. Also, many banks will take into account any income from tax credits and your child maintenance agreement.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow

Hi, 6 months ago I was in the exact same situation as you.

The problem with selling the house and splitting the proceeds is that not only does it not leave you enough money to buy a house , it also leaves you without the option of any housing benefit because you have a lump sum. In my experience, having a lump sum and no home is the absolute worst scenario for a divorced woman with kids to be in.

I fought for the house and got it, well at least until the youngest child is 18. Then I will have to review my options again but at that stage with the kids being adults, i should be able to manage on a smaller property.

Try to negotiate you having the house and your ex having other,more fluid, assets.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow

skater_kat wrote: »

you can rent privately for a fair few years on 65k.

What, and let some "buy-to-let parasite" have all the money she's ever worked for - I can't see her doing that somehow.

Oldernotwiser

Perhaps the OP can tell us where she lives; Hull and Kent are pretty nearly opposite ends of the property spectrum!