To sell my house and try and get a council house? To think I'm too poor to own?

This zombie thread hasn’t been updated by the OP for six months. Just saying.

What a total nightmare for you. I am so sorry. These buying schemes don't always work out well for the buyer and personally I don't think people are offered enough advice before going ahead.
I'd suggest talking to Shelter about your options.
One very drastic possibility if you can't find some way to either sell or repair the house, is going bankrupt. You should qualify for housing if you are homeless. Your mum would have to say she can't take you in - it sounds as f she doesn't have room anyway.
Or you might look at getting a live-in job somewhere, say as housekeeper or gardener.
You'll find a way. Don't despair.

If you sell your house and make yourself homeless, the council won't house you. You'll be put on lowest priority which for me was 15 years wait time and you may not get a house, it could be a flat.

This certainly. If you bought the house from a council, you might consider putting in a complaint for mi-selling. There are council repair grants but you need to have your application all ready to go and put it straight in on April 5th when the budgets change (although there are other grants that may not be at that date.
There are folks who buy homes and rent them back having upgraded, if you are willing to give it up. Or perhaps come to a deal with a local property developer to buy it and evict you?

Also I wouldn't jump into shared ownership because you then pay rent on the bit you don't own and my understanding is that all the work you still have to pay for.

I know it's hard. I found it so hard when my DS was small. But you've done so well! You've secured a secure, safe home for your DC and you should be proud. I promise you it will get easier eventually.

If I can help at all please PM me.

I am a fan of shared equity! It gave me my favourite first home!

But I spent a fortune remodelling after I had been there years and when it came time to sell I didn't really recoup the money as you would do so if you fully owned. I had a surveyor out when I was selling and my home would have increased quite significantly with the market without the modernisations. The surveyor told me that most people using shared equity only decorate and instead rely on market forces to increase the value of the property (or break even). In effect the government received a shared of the uplift that I had paid for. But when or if you come to sell get two valuations. One including the work and one without.

If things had been different I planned to stay in that house forever. I absolutely loved it. But with the benefit of hindsight I shouldn't have remodelled as much or spent so much on high end products.

If your home is watertight and your boiler is sorted I would just decorate if it needs it. I'm sure it will be lovely.

My understanding was that unlike shared ownership you cannot staircase. In my case I would have had to have remortgaged to buy the 25% owned by the government rather than a bit at a time. My home was also secure should something happen to me (I had insurance to cover my share of the mortgage).

But the beauty of shared equity is that when you have some spare cash in the future you could overpay your mortgage and be mortgage free sooner. I know that seems like a lifetime away but it will come!

I know it doesn't feel like it at the moment but shared equity is a good thing rather than shared ownership where you would pay rent as well as the mortgage.

My first home was shared equity and if I had my time again I would not have remodelled as much as I did. Apparently most people only decorate.

You've done the important thing and got the roof done.

You might be able to get a grant / free boiler.

Keep your chin up. You'll get there in the end. It's your house nobody can take it away from you

Worth people knowing there is a similar lousy system with self repair tenancies on hard to let properties.
They used to have some important pros balancing out the cons, and for desperate families offered a way of being housed. Over time most of the pros have been stripped away leaving those tenants in a lousy situation.

She bought under a shared ownership scheme, which means despite only ‘owning’ (via a mortgage) 60% of the property, and renting the other 40%, she will be entirely responsible for repairs. It’s a lousy system.

It is possible the HA may be prepared to buy the whole property and rent it back to OP. It’s worth asking them

My apology is someone else has already answered this. This is part of the problem with shared ownership, the housing association may own 75% of the property, which you rent from them whilst ‘owning’ the other 25% (or 60/40 as with op), but the entirety of responsibility for repairs etc falls on the tenant.

I really feel for you. I bought a house with compensation received after a disabling accident. It's a nice enough ex Council house with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, after many bad choices and dodgy workmen I couldn't face people coming in any more than I could afford to have things done. Fortunately for me, I have only pets to worry about.

I recently had to call an ambulance and while the paramedics were there they saw the state of things, I had to explain the whys and wherefores, and they got me help. It's not happening quickly, but now I have the opportunity for the house to be rodent-free, things have been moved that I was unable to manage, and spaces cleared etc, making cleaning easier etc etc. I live from one week to the next, and I've often thought I should not have bought a house, but at the time I couldn't find anywhere to rent that would take me with my pets.

There is help out there, I'm sure. I'm sure that with two children, there will be something/somebody who can assist you through this so you can get to a situation where you are able to care for your children without stressing about mere survival. I haven't read the entire thread, but hope someone is able to point you in the right direction.

I know of certain people who have received free boilers due to certain benefits- not sure which ones but you could always ask CA

I was in a similar situation years ago. My home was repossessed as I could no longer afford the mortage. The council didn't count repossession as intentionally homeless because I was effectively forced to leave my home. Obviously I didn't make any money from the forced sale because the mortage company sold it just for the amount I owed on the mortage, therefore I walked away with no equity/profit.

My son has mental health issues and I fought to stay in our local area. After getting doctors reports etc the Council conceded that he should not be removed from his "support". In other words his psychiatric community nurse and local doctors surgery.

This was a long time ago and I expect everything has changed dramatically.

If you earn £1800 a month which is topped up by UC and your child's DP, I would look at where your money IS going. You don't need a full fridge. Start planning meals and cut out wastage. Visit Food Hubs and use Olio etc to get freebies.

Your mortgage provider would've given you a mortgage based on your survey and what they thought the property was worth. If there were major problems with the property and they weren't in the survey you do need to chase this for compensation.

Also, if my ceiling had fallen in, I'd probably have claimed on my Home Insurance. Did they say it was fair wear and tear?

Many CAB are overworked but do try and contact them or look for a free Debt Helpline to help you work out a way forward.

Is it possible to rent one of your bedrooms out? Either full time or Monday to Friday? That's the quickest way I can think of to get a decent income boost. If not, can you rent out your garage or shed for storage? If you have a drive then could you rent it out for daily parking or caravan storage? How big is your garden? If long and thin, is there space at the end to rent out for a private allotment?

I hope you can make the property work for you in some way. Good luck!

So sorry you’re struggling. our boiler pressure dropped every couple of weeks and it was a leaking pipe, that could be why your wall is wet?

You might not be a much better off in a council house, they aren’t all new build houses. Mine is damp, mouldy and doesn’t have a shower or proper heating the council and HA don’t have the same obligations as private landlords so can get away with providing substandard housing. I can’t get any kind of grant or loan to deal with the problems because I don’t own the house!

If you don't already...get DLA for your son ..it is not income linked

You haven't replied to the question about who owns the other 40%. They surely should be helping with the costs...?

You won’t be entitled to council housing.
you’ll have made yourself intentionally homeless. The equity you do have will be expected to go towards private renting.

I'm really sorry you're having such a shit time.
My advice is DON'T GIVE UP YOUR HOUSE!
See someone from your housing association or citizens advice or your local authority housing advice and tell them about your problems. Possibly consult a financial advisor who is recommended by one of these organisations.
You won't get a council house, realistically, for years or never.
Find a way to make your home comfortable and safe, with their advice.