Renting judgements please help!

teaselMay

Exactly that. I'm simply looking at it as buying security forever. The alternative was increasingly looking like living in my van

horsewithnoname

teaselMay said:

Exactly that. I'm simply looking at it as buying security forever. The alternative was increasingly looking like living in my van

Well all the very best to you, security is a lovely thing to have. 

MikeJXE

A house/flat is only a home if you are happy, neighbours can decide that and there is no suck it and see. It’s harder to move if you have to sell. 

The flat I am in is ground floor of 3 stories 7 flats, own parking space, I have never heard the neighbours, in fact not seen them all in the 2 years. 5 minutes walk into a market town, a country park at the back of me, my land lady at the moment is very happy she knows when I leave here it will be in a box, I’m 84 so that might not be long ha ha. 

ian1246

If your partners parents are willing to stump up £16,000 in cash, is there a possibility you could look at a adverse-credit mortgage & buy somewhere with a 5% deposit?

How would the mortgage payments compare to rent? Would it leave some "spare" income you could pay the parents back with over an agreed period of time?

Alternatively, as mentioned, shared ownership using the £16,000 + small mortgage too buy the share. Universal credit will cover the rent you pay on the housing associations share.

It's probably unlikely, but just throwing idea's out there! Sounds really tough OP. Good luck!

Loopylottie22

saajan_12 said:

How does your household income and/or guarantor's income stack up against the monthly rent? I'd focus on that plus your landlord references. In describing the family 'situation', number of kids, etc etc I wonder if you're painting a picture that's more worrying than what the LL or agent would have asked in the first place. 

Our income alone more than covers the required 30x monthly rent, but some of that is made up by UC the rest my partners salary. It’s my credit rating that is terrible as I had to enter a DRO when I realised I couldn’t return to work anytime soon after the accident. However all rent payments and bills were always paid. You could be right, I’ve had years of judgment having the small army I created and I think I feel because a part of our income is UC I’ll be judged and stereotyped even more so! Perhaps I’m panicking and trying to prove I’m not what some people would see as a stereotypical “mum with loads of kids and on benefits!” 

Loopylottie22

ian1246 said:

If your partners parents are willing to stump up £16,000 in cash, is there a possibility you could look at a adverse-credit mortgage & buy somewhere with a 5% deposit?

How would the mortgage payments compare to rent? Would it leave some "spare" income you could pay the parents back with over an agreed period of time?

Alternatively, as mentioned, shared ownership using the £16,000 + small mortgage too buy the share. Universal credit will cover the rent you pay on the housing associations share.

It's probably unlikely, but just throwing idea's out there! Sounds really tough OP. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your help! It really is a poo situation! As soon as I’m able to get back to work things will sort out as a lot of places aren’t taking UC as income….. which baffles me but I’ve been told it’s down to insurances etc. 
The thing that would be holding us back from shared ownership / mortgage is my credit rating as I have a DRO I had to enter after the accident. That and the size house we would need for the small army. We’re in West London so prices are extortionate and moving further out at the moment isn’t an option as the boys are all in the middle of GCSE’s and A Levels. Just trying to do the right thing by the kids, a good education, a loving home, making sure they use their manners (and know their audience when they don’t!!) yet none of this matters when finding a property! Sucks! 

Bobbityboo

It might be worth having a chat with a mortgage broker.  They will be able to advise if any lenders may be open to you.  How old is the DRO?  Husband and I have a complicated financial situation, but our broker has been brilliant and walked us through it and found a lender that is ok with our situation.  He actually spoke directly to the lender to explain things in more detail, as opposed to just putting in into a computer.  It is in-depth, but was worth it.  You may be surprised.  Exams aren’t to far off, so by the time it’s all done your children may have finished their exams.  

Totally understand about the feelings around UC.  Wishing you all the best! 

FreeBear

Flugelhorn said:

agree try going directly to Landlords our local facebook groups often have people letting places

Most of the ads I've seen on facebook are from scammers. The general modus is to cull images from a genuine listing on say rightmove, and then post to facebook. A simple reverse image search with Google reveals the source, and nearly always, the photos are of a property not even in your search area - Have come across images from properties in America (easy spot, just look at light switches & sockets), Hong Kong, Birmingham, and more. Not helpful when looking for somewhere in East Anglia !

And when you make contact with these scammers, they always happen to have just what you are looking for in your area. But first, you have to fill out a "pre-approval application" and stump up a fee of £80-150 - Under UK law, illegal.

I've been banned from a couple of these groups for calling out the scammers....

Flugelhorn

FreeBear said:

Flugelhorn said:

agree try going directly to Landlords our local facebook groups often have people letting places

Most of the ads I've seen on facebook are from scammers. The general modus is to cull images from a genuine listing on say rightmove, and then post to facebook. A simple reverse image search with Google reveals the source, and nearly always, the photos are of a property not even in your search area - Have come across images from properties in America (easy spot, just look at light switches & sockets), Hong Kong, Birmingham, and more. Not helpful when looking for somewhere in East Anglia !

And when you make contact with these scammers, they always happen to have just what you are looking for in your area. But first, you have to fill out a "pre-approval application" and stump up a fee of £80-150 - Under UK law, illegal.

I've been banned from a couple of these groups for calling out the scammers....

fair enough - I was just thinking of people I know who let their properties locally via this route. yes you do have to ne careful

Loopylottie22

Bobbityboo said:

It might be worth having a chat with a mortgage broker.  They will be able to advise if any lenders may be open to you.  How old is the DRO?  Husband and I have a complicated financial situation, but our broker has been brilliant and walked us through it and found a lender that is ok with our situation.  He actually spoke directly to the lender to explain things in more detail, as opposed to just putting in into a computer.  It is in-depth, but was worth it.  You may be surprised.  Exams aren’t to far off, so by the time it’s all done your children may have finished their exams.  

Totally understand about the feelings around UC.  Wishing you all the best! 

Thank you so much! Someone has said about a mortgage broker, I’ve never been in the position to consider it! The DRO is only a year old so fairly new! So pleased you got everything sorted your end! The computer system doesn’t want to understand what the underlying reasons for defaults etc are! We’re in a world controlled by computers and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse!