What would you do in my situation???

ruthmt

OK- So I am looking for advice on what others would do in my situation and the different schemes others have used to buy a property.

I am currently living in social housing but my husband and I have a good household income and earn enough to secure a mortage of around £300,000.

We have a few options:

a) buy our council home with a £100,000 discount. However, I really don't like it here and hate the thought of staying here any longer than necessary....but it does make good financial sense and could set us and our children up for life!

b) we give the council property back and the government will give us £33,000 off of the price of a privately bought house. Where we live £300k will be just enough to buy us a small, ex local authority, terraced house which will probably be smaller than what we currently have.

I have looked at shared ownership but if we went down that route we would not be entitled to use any of the above discounts and our monthly outgoings would be the same as if we just bought a house outright.

We've just started saving around £1700 a month for a deposit- buying our council home (with discount, excluding 10% deposit) would leave us with a mortgage of around £150k but buying privately (with discount, excluding 10% deposit) would leave us with a mortgage of around £265k.

What would you do?

silvercar

If (a) then you will be stuck living in somewhere you don't like for 5 years, could you cope with that?

You don't say the age of your children, but if staying where you are impacts on the school your children would attend, that is something else to consider.

ruthmt

My kids are 9 and 16 and, fortunately, they both good to very good local schools.

That's the dilemma really- I cannot imagine living here for another 5 years (already been here for 5 years)....but that sacrifice could help me secure a good future for my kids.

getmore4less

ruthmt wrote: »

What would you do?

Take the £33k and move somewhere cheaper.

If £1700pm is sustainable that's around £257k 5% over 20years.

bouicca21

I'd be thanking my lucky stars that I had that kind of dilemma.

Kynthia

The financial element of a big life decision is only one element of the decision. There's no point living somewhere that makes you unhappy every day if you can afford to move somewhere else. We all have to make compromises with house size/location/price but make sure they are compromises you can live with and not ones you think you should.

good_advice

Location was high on our list when deciding on a new home.

Next came the job. Are you able to move and stay in the same work or get a transfer?

If there is x2 adults = you both have to agree what is best for your family.

What home improvements are you looking for? I do not mean decoration. More like room size, outside space, garage and off road parking.Bathrooms

All big considerations.
Money available to live comfortable. Price of new house?
Travel distance to school and work?

DRP

getmore4less wrote: »

Take the £33k and move somewhere cheaper.

If £1700pm is sustainable that's around £257k 5% over 20years.

Indeed - taking this advice could change your life for the better.

ye gods, if op has an income high enough to save 1700pcm, and is looking at houses around 300k then is probably in a situation most in this country can only dream of.

On that budget you can get much more than just "a small terraced house" in >75% of the country i'd imagine.

I don't now your situation (and is none of my business really), but based on the situation as described, it sticks in the craw that with that budget and cash flow, you are getting any social help at all!! think yourself lucky.

Old_Git

with your income things may be changing soon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33399650

Cheeky_Monkey

DRP wrote: »

Indeed - taking this advice could change your life for the better.

ye gods, if op has an income high enough to save 1700pcm, and is looking at houses around 300k then is probably in a situation most in this country can only dream of.

On that budget you can get much more than just "a small terraced house" in >75% of the country i'd imagine.

I don't now your situation (and is none of my business really), but based on the situation as described, it sticks in the craw that with that budget and cash flow, you are getting any social help at all!! think yourself lucky.

:T

This situation is replicated up and down the country with thousands of people living in social housing they don't need as they can easily afford to buy/rent privately.

Whichever option you go for OP, just make sure you screw as much money out of the taxpayer as you can to secure yours and your children's future (rolls eyes)

AdrianC

DRP wrote: »

ye gods, if op has an income high enough to save 1700pcm, and is looking at houses around 300k then is probably in a situation most in this country can only dream of.

I don't now your situation (and is none of my business really), but based on the situation as described, it sticks in the craw that with that budget and cash flow, you are getting any social help at all!! think yourself lucky.

You aren't alone in that.