Advice needed

BigT_3

I am a 40 year old with a wife & 2 small kids living in west London in a rented flat for the last 10 years (I know I know). Our landlord has informed us that he will be selling the place in January, so we need to start looking for somewhere else to live.
We couldn't afford to rent another property as our current rent hasn't risen since we moved in and is about half the going rate locally.
There is absolutely no chance getting on the council list in this area, I've been on it for 5 years and we are still way way down the list.
I could afford to buy a place and get a mortgage for about the £120000 mark on my wage, but obviously not around here!! but we could get a three bed house in my wifes home town near the In laws, and for the time being I could commute up to london Mondays, stay with relatives during the week and go home on Fridays. The problem is we have debts of around £10,000 and only a couple of grand in an ISA.
We could get a family loan for the deposit...But do you think it would be a good idea to follow this root? The mortgage repayments would be a less than the rent I've been paying for the last 10 years.
Any comments will be gratefully received (except ones about why didn't you buy ages ago!)

cattie

If you are going to be made homeless when the landlord sells the house, then won't you qualify for rehousing by the council as you have 2 young children? Are you down for housing association properties too as this will give you more options than just the council waiting list. Probably the best place to get advice about being rehoused would be Shelter, https://www.shelter.org.uk

Because of the fact that you'd only be a weekend husband & father if you decide to buy a place in the in laws home town, living in somebody elses house in London during the week, I personally don't think it would be a wise thing to do. You'd have a house, yes, but at the cost of a proper family life. Unless of course this would only be a very temporary arrangement & you'd be looking for a new job close to the new town, but then would you have to take a salary drop if you moved jobs too?


Maybe it's best to work on clearing your debt first before thinking of buying & get a bit more in the bank towards a decent deposit & the cost of legals etc. Or if owning a home really is the way you want to go, then perhaps a co-ownership property would be the best bet. You could then possibly afford to buy somewhere not too far from where you live now.