Mortgage ex made redundant

helenthemum

Hello

My STBX and I separated in January. We have been paying the mortgage jointly from his bank account (he has reduced maintance payments to pay my half of the mortgage). This has worked well for both of us.

He has now been made redundant and only has a couple of months redundancy pay.

I run my own business but do not earn enough to pay the mortgage and all the household bills and children activities. Children left at home are 13, 17 and a 20 yr old who is at Uni. even with full WFTC

I think I already know the answer to my question. If I stopped all of the children activities I could just about afford to pay the mortgage (very hard on
the children). Would the mortgage company let me take on the mortgage solely? Will I have to sell the house?

themull1

How much is your mortgage, what is your salary? The mortgage provider will only let you do a transfer of equity if they think you can afford the mortgage.

Dave_Ham

Hi Helen,

You are going to need to provide more details in order for anyone to give you an indicative answer.

What is your current mortgage balance?
What is the approximate value of your home?
Current monthly mortgage payment?
Breakdown of household income?

And what on Earth is an STBX?

helenthemum

STBX = soon to be ex.

My income £8000 + wftc £180 per wee, maintenance will stop unless ex gets a job
Mortgage re payments £216 per month
Approx left on mortgage £36k
House value approx £200k
Rough breakdown of expenditure. Gas, electric, phone, water £170. Then things like food for 3/4. Also ex pays part of youngest child school fees along with his parents at the moment. Council tax £97. Car tax, insurance for a ford ka and petrol approx £100 per month

Childrens activities £30 per term for sons scouts excluding camps/activities. Daughters dancing fees per term £190 excluding exams and dancewear.

Buildings insurance paid for by business as house is part commercial, contents insurance £60 per year.

Dave_Ham

Thanks for the explanation:

Firstly, is your STBX going to let you remortgage in your own name and waive rights to the equity in the property?

Subject to credit file and importantly age, achieving a mortgage should be quite straightforward although depending upon your current term vs new term I would not expect it to decrease your mortgage dramatically but can decrease a tad..

If you want to proceed down this route, I would suggest speaking with your current lender first.

Just to set your expectations early, given the financials you have submitted I am expecting the money saving crusaders to be all over this thread with imaginative ways to save...

getmore4less

you need to start thinking like you are in debt and prioritise.

proper SOA needed and a longer term budget/plan
http://www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

for ideas the debt board is probably a good start.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

What's the rate and term on the mortgage.

Lender may consider interest only and/or longer term to reduce the payment.


Any way to increase your income, can OH do any work, or look after the kids freeing more time for you.

20 yo will need to look at earning, maybe the 17yo needs to think about working to pay for themselves

First step is getting a proper handle on the finances to identify the cutbacks and making a plan.

helenthemum

Thank you Dave. Hadn't thought about taking ex off the mortgage. I would have thought the limiting factor with getting a new mortgage or Barclays letting me take over the existing mortgage would be my income. The current mortgage is a fantastic rate being only 0.1% above base rate (until the interest rate rises of course)

Term remaining 15 years age mid 40's. The house is a decent size 5 bed house with commercial premises occupying approx 20%. The valuation was less than we paid for it 5 years ago having spent a fortune gutting it. But thats property for you. Win some lose some.

Ways to save money would be good. Have managed to cut electric down by 50% since ex left (he used to leave lights, tvs, computers on all the time), food down alot as well.

Dave_Ham

Your income will be ok, for the mortgage outstanding but not if you need to capital raise to buy your ex out..

Whether they accept given the rate is another question, but if they do accept you will be able to keep the rate.

All the best

themull1

You wouldn't take a new mortgage, you would do a transfer of equity.

getmore4less

with a base+0.1% there will not be a better deal anyhere it will be down to Barclays helping out.

at mid 40's with 15 years not much room to extend term.
Interest only would make a big difference

Check your mortgage reserve account for any overdraft limit that may help with short term cash flow.

NOTE: any borrowing on the reserve will be at SVR unless you have an offset.

getmore4less

Taking the ex off the mortgage is not really the issue it does not solve the cash flow problem.