housing crisis

emo75

hi everyone not posted on anything like this before so please bear with me. cut a really long story short I own outright a 2 bedroomed terraced house through a divorce settlement a number of years ago, I have since had 2 other children with my new partner, one being a boy, we were hoping to sell this property and move into a 3 bedroomed property, unfortunately my health has suffered due to chronic post natal anxiety, my partner is not working so he can support me at home, the house is now in serious need of repair including damp on the ground floor, this is starting to cause health problems for my youngest 2 children. citizens advice cannot help neither can my local council, we desperately need to move but don't know where to turn, any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Ciderarmy1987

We you say own outright do you mean you have no mortgage or that you are the only person on the mortgage?

if you have a mortgage how much equity do you have compared to a rough value for the house?

emo75

hi no i own the property outright and have no mortgage. the property is only worth between 40 and 50k due to repairs needed. i cannot get a mortgage as i am currently claiming benefits.

Ciderarmy1987

Maybe not the solution that you want, but what about selling the house and moving into a rented 3-bed house?

emo75

ok if i sell my house maybe to a builder/cash buyer could I rent privately with no guaranteed income as i would lose my benefit entitlement whilst i had the money from the sale, would i have to pay my rent in front to secure my tenancy, and would i struggle to get housing benefit when the money from the sale runs out, all these things really scare me, thank you for your help

Ciderarmy1987

How long until you think that your partner is able to go back to work, when do you children start at school?

emo75

my children are 12 4 and 18 months my partner is currently looking for work but is also aware of my current struggle. i have a job but i'm unable to return because of my health, for childcare reasons my partner used to look after the children while i went to work, which is how we have both found ourselves at home.

Fire_Fox

emo75 wrote: »

ok if i sell my house maybe to a builder/cash buyer could I rent privately with no guaranteed income as i would lose my benefit entitlement whilst i had the money from the sale, would i have to pay my rent in front to secure my tenancy, and would i struggle to get housing benefit when the money from the sale runs out, all these things really scare me, thank you for your help

There is no point in keeping the house if it's too small for your current and future needs. No reason to think you will both be off work long enough to run out of money.

Sorry loads of questions .... What sort of damp do you have - rising, penetrating, condensation? Are you air drying laundry indoors? Given there are five of you breathing and showering are you opening all the windows daily year round? Have you tried running a decent electric dehumidifier all the time?

Off topic but are you getting support from your medical team on lifestyle modification? Targeted nutrition and physical activity can be highly effective in helping treat anxiety. Nutrient deficiencies following pregnancy are far from unheard of.

emo75

yea i totally understand we need to move even for over crowding reasons without anything else, my partner also has a daughter who stays at weekends, so theres 6 of us a lot of the time, i'm really sensible with opening windows and doors all the time to get as much air flow as possible. We have rising damp in most walls on the ground floor. i have recently borrowed a dehumidifier but need to locate some instructions as i cant get it to work, warning light flashing. We have a condensor dryer that is used often but we dry laundry outside weather permitting. As regard to my anxiety ive struggled to get any help and still on waiting lists for appointments, my diet is really poor and i comfort eat to ease stress levels. We have basically got so much going on and dont expect everything handed to us we just need guiding down the right path.

lighting_up_the_chalice

Just a thought, but judging by the value you put on your house, it's a "low demand" area. Have you applied for Social Housing?

emo75

yea stoke on trent values are generally very low but due to the repairs needed to our property ive been offered 40k by 2 seperate companies, i have applied for social housing today but due to the equity i have in the property and the fact that im not currently homeless will probably go against me.