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

Sorry to hear that you are having such a bad time, please ask gp or nurse to refer you to a food bank, there are also available grants from your council which you may be entitled to and as you have UC you can apply to get a new boiler through government scheme foc. Speak to CAB l am sure that they direct you to the relevant help.

Look up 'places for people'
https://www.placesforpeople.co.uk/find-a-home/homes-to-rent/

I wouldn't give up your home for a council home (despite what this means in terms of their rules of making yourself homeless and actually being homeless, you could be waiting until your kids are actually ADULTS to be rehoused, such is the housing crisis - this means your kids spending much of their childhood in temp accommodation / poss years)

However Places for People may be more of a help - check it out

If you sell your home you will be intentionally homeless and the council will have no obligation to help you, they will put you in a b&b or temporary housing. Are you getting all the benefits you are entitled to? Look on the entitled to website for an idea. Can you refinance?

They will say you made yourself intentionally homeless you will be bottom of a extremely long list you will be in temporary accommodation for years. Your best bet is to sell and get a shared ownership property and claim UC for the rent.

Talk to council before you do anything. The council may declare you as making yourself homeless, you don't want to end up in B&B. Visit a finance expert at your mortgage provider, they may be able to help you.

I'm sorry but to bè blunt; you wouldn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting a council property. At the most they would stiçk you in temporary àccomodation which can be very grim...you may ñot eveñ get that.
As others have said; see if you have any benefit entitlemen. See if ÿoù can maxìmìze èarnings perĥaps with remote woŕk. If you sold coùld ìt ɓuy you something in another àrea of the UK outright? Or even a boat òr residential caravan depeñding on youŕ thoughts òn aĺternative housing?

I owned with my ex husband. after we split the house went to sale as neither of us could afford to buy the other out, i went on the council house list with my children as we were having to stay on familys sofas and spare rooms, not together. This was 2014, i eventually saved enough to private rent but the rent even with UC top ups made it difficult to get by. I got a council house last year, 6 years after applying, and the rent isnt that much less than private for a smaller house, its a difference of £100 a month but my UC rent element also dropped so im actually no better off. The council house also doesnt come with flooring or any white goods. I still, a year on, dont have a bed myself or flooring in my room. There are benefits in that its a life time tenancy, and they will do repairs - ish, my place needs a new bathroom which i was told when offered, over a year later im still waiting and dont have a useable bath, just a shower, but its not all sunshine and rainbows. Its still hard if you arent on a good income, im a nurse, i earn an average wage, but on a single income, with 3 children, even in a council place, it doesnt go far, and i have to accept that i cant have the instagramable show home. Its not a quick, easy fix to your situation.

Sadly it actually is here. (self repair in a very poor condition flat with big issues)

So something specific about sewage coming up pipes for you RedFence.
I'm sorry you're in the situation you're in, but it might help to know about this:

Raw sewage coming up the pipes is going to be a blockage. Unless ridiculous amounts of unflushable stuff is going down your toilet, (which you can prevent) the blockage is nearly always in the sewer outlet not your pipe.
Most common causes are other peoples abuse of toilets that empty into a shared outlet, rat traps, & roots of plants going through the sewer pipe.
The 1st two you can easily sort yourself.

Know where the inspection cover for your sewer outlet is.
They're heavy but you can dislodge, lift, and drag the cover off with a big screwdriver or a crowbar. Good idea to randomly do this one day so you know what you're doing.
Look and you'll see the entrance to the sewer pip, and it's going to be that, that's blocked up. When it happens you wont be able to see it anymore as there will be liquid sewage covering it if it has blocked. But that's the bit that needs rodding.

I know things are tight, but at some point invest in a basic rodding kit. (start at around £12) You only have to use it once for it to pay for itself several times over.

Keep an eye on any change in how fast your bath empties, or if the water level in your toilet changes (up or down) It's your warning sign to rod the sewer outlet before it comes up the pipes.

Use food banks, clothes banks, charities, and whatever you need to, to make life more livable. You aren't stupid, you're just going through hard times like many of us. hang on in there.

Oops... covered

How old is the house? Is it coveted by NHBC or similar?

GOTBrienne · Today 18:16
My sister got a new boiler from a government grant. She was told if she’s earning under 33 grand a year and no benefits, she can claim for it. She got a brand new boiler system in September. They were in and out in a day. She’s a homeowner. Def work the op looking into these grants in her area

You'll never get a council house sorry to say and if you did it would be 10 years+ time from now. You'll be expected to private rent or buy another house with your equity and you'll also be expected to live off that money for as long as possible.
And here's food for thought. They WILL deem you intentionally homeless and the ONLY duty of care they have then is to house the children which basically means Foster care/residential care home.

Last one and I’ve just seen a local charity near me has a warm home scheme where they give grants for no insulation as well as advice etc.

I saw something about a boiler, do you not qualify for the new boiler scheme?

I’ve only skimmed but lots of good advice.

Where I live there are several community food schemes, where you can buy food very cheaply. Like 10 items for £2. Also there is a local environmental charity which would help with repairs and grants.

Id start with your mortgage company for a break, citizens advise and ask on a local Facebook page (you can usually ask anonymously) to see what is available locally to you. So much is dependent on where you are.

Personally I’d try and keep the house if you can, much better in the long run.

I think you'd be very ill advised to do this. It can take decades to get to the top of the council list. Where would you live until then? Rent would probably be more than your mortgage.

A mate of mine did something similar to free up equity for her business. She ended up homeless at 60 yo. Her and her DH sofa surfed round her children's houses until a friend who is a private renter let them gave a property. That was over 10 years ago and despite being nearly 70 and registered disabled she still hasn't been offered a council property. She has had to pay rent for all that time whereas if she'd kept her house the mortgage would have paid off by now.

@RedFence caaaalm. Deep breaths. Your overwhelm is crying out of this post - you say you have kids with additional needs, are any of those ASD? If so, perhaps you may also have it? Just mentioning it as something to consider, which may help you flip the narrative in your head to ‘look at how much I’ve achieved entirely on my own’.

Anyway - I’m also in renovation land, been there for a while, private message me, I’ve got lots of resources for you, things that will really help. very best of luck.

We are In Scotland, so maybe different?
my sister Is a homeowner, she’s on a low income, but dosent qualify for any benefits. She has no kids either. She visited citizens advice and she was told there are a number of grants available for homeowners. She managed to get a new heating system put in from her energy company. She’s also been told she can get new windows at a later date. So worth a visit to your local advice shop

There is another, last resort option. Stop paying the mortgage and let it be reposessed or whatever the HA do when it’s shared ownership.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/possession_and_eviction/shared_ownership_arrears_and_possession

I also wish people would learn to read threads before commenting.

In all honesty, in your situation with no equity, I would get into debt to sort the house then go on a self made DMP or even go bankrupt if I had to, no equity means they won’t take the house.

I haven't read the thread except the first page.
Op, if you claim DLA for your son and carers allowence you can apply for a DFG grant depending on the area you live it may be called something else.

You need to talk to your sons school and ask for a referral to a parent carers assessment, get the local authority OT to come and see what they can do to the house to make it suitable, there is a general 30K limit but there are other funds available they can look for you.

I waited 11.5 years to be offered a council house.. single parent, two kids, one with life limiting disability and points for homelessness… Private rent in my area is now £950 for small basic three bed.
I know it’s really tough and the roof leaks but it is still a roof over your kids heads.
can you contact citizens advice/christians against poverty/similar and see what they say.
I know what it’s like to have no clothes, no haircuts, miss meals… I have spent years digging myself out of debt and have finally nearly got there. You can do this, it’s overwhelming and hard to ask for help/advice but I did find them lovely and they got me on the right track. I wish the same for you

Your local council should have some kind of home ownership grants and/loans. It can be quite a decent amount, so if you are eligible, this could be the answer.

Keep your house for now. Better than renting or living an a BnB. You are going to build equity. That’s important.

Get a repair guy for the roof…letting it leak causes more problems. It probably is not a total roof repair—slipped tile, clogged gutter more likely. Whilst the bathroom stuff was not great, it doesn't mean the whole house is like that. You tube is great for learning about basic home repair.

Budget and do some reading about financial health…there is an app called Libby for the local libraries that allow free borrowing of books. Although she is American, Suze Orman is very good about learning to take charge of your money, particularly for women…really an attitude mindset. She said something once that blew my mind. If at age 25, instead of buying a daily cup of coffee, you put that amount in a retirement account which averaged 12% return, you would have a million dollars in there when you were 65.

Shelter is awesome and worth checking out for resources. If you are lower income, you can also get gov’t grants to make your house energy efficient (windows, solar, heat pump). Something to think about when you have saved a bit more cash.

the BBC good food site has some good recipes for smaller budgets, and you can batch cook and freeze portions for lunch/dinner. No shame in using a food bank if you have to.

You can buy a 6-pack of ice creams for what you are paying for 1-2 at the beach. Bring a picnic and snacks.

And, yup pay your council tax. My elderly mum in law forgot a payment (she was losing memory) and after 30 years in her house and paying faithfully, they were immediately ready to take her to court. It took us a while to sort that one out. After paying council tax, utilities, pay off the high interest loans first, and work out a payment plan for the lower interest ones.

Lodger idea is a good un. Loads of postgrads looking for a decent room to rent. If you have a local university, put an ad in their housing office.

I’ve been where you are…student debt, scraping on by, and after learning how more to make money work for me and applying the lesson for a few decades, I just took early retirement. Good luck with everything.

I’m so sorry that you are feeling so desperate, OP.

Whatever you do, do not sell your house. It is an asset. Do not give up a long term asset for short term gains. Even if it is absolutely driving you nuts. That £5k you’ll get from the sale will soon disappear and you will have a lifetime of housing instability if you can’t get a council house.

If I were you I would start learning any skill I could to repair and maintain the house. Prioritise fixing up the house. We moved into an absolute pit 2 years ago and had to accept very quickly that fixing it up would be long haul because we have to save for each individual job. There’s no pot of money ready to do lots of work at once. It’s totally liveable now and we’ll get it to where we’d like it to be in about 15 years. We too have a wet wall and a leaking roof. We’re also not sure how the roof is held on.

Make a list of repairs and categorise into dangerous now, will be dangerous in 2-5 years and cosmetic. Focus on ‘dangerous now’ and any time you have some spare money throw in a small cosmetic job to slowly make the house feel nice. You will be ok.

Can your ex do anything at all to help seeing as it’s his DC’s primary home? Not necessarily money, but can he come and help with DIY?

In terms of the not eating. Get some budgeting support. Drop brands, cook from scratch, food banks, etc.

Good luck.