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

Do you not get universal credit to help you with the rent and the service charge? Can you put your mortgage on interest only?

I can relate.
(I have received several e-mails from DC's school this week - guess which one I accidentally swipe deleted? Yup, the only important one!).

Sorry, bit of brain fog this morning!

I agree with everyone else that it isn't a good idea for all the reasons stated.

But on a slightly random note - you mentioned your boiler pressure dropping every few weeks. But there should be a valve you turn under the boiler that increases the pressure - I have to do this with mine fairly regularly. Just checking you know that.

With your roof I bet it's slipping tiles. Water spreads so quickly and it always looks worse than it is. Get a good roofer or a decent builder type/handy person to have a look.

With the boiler pressure can drop. It's concerning it's happened so frequently but once the roof is sorted you could get a plumber in.

Could you try your DC with wrap around care to increase your hours? Or possibly have room for a lodger?

I know it feels so overwhelming at the moment. It's hard to think step by step when you are so upset. But I really don't think if you sell you will get a local authority property.

This

Incorrect.

If you are a shared owner of a house the Housing Assciation has no responsibility for repairs. The role of the housing association is to retain a share of the property to enable the purchaser to own a home they otherwise couldn't afford. It is not to bail shared owners out if they can't afford repairs.

My mum lost her home when she got divorced but found that she couldn't buy a smaller home for herself because she didn't have enough of a nest egg. She couldn't get council accommodation because she had too much in savings because of the nest egg she did have (about £90k, so nowhere near enough to buy a house). She's in a shared ownership now, like you.

You're not going to get a council house when you have the equity from your current home. I think for my mum she had to have lessthat £32,000 in savings, although obviously this may have changed now (was during covid).

As far as I can see, your options are to move to a cheaper area and get a shared ownership there, move into private rental or try and work more hours / get a higher paid job. You're not going to get a council property I'm afraid.

It’s natural to fixate on a solution when you’re overwhelmed with problems. But several people here have explained why a council house might not be the miracle you think.

let’s talk about your current house. So you own 60% of it, or 40%?

what does the lease agreement say about the repairs?

does your home insurance cover things like leaks? Some do.

is your £1800 after tax? What is your take-home? How much is your rent.mortgage repayment? Have you done a budget?

this isn’t the time to miss work as that gives you financial security.

if you post your income and outgoings here, people will help.

When government organisations talk about secure housing what they mean is that no-one else can legally make you leave.

Because you (part) own it you are secure in that sense.

A lot of houses cost a lot of money when you first buy - we were skint when we bought our first house and we had to live with a lot of big great stuff. We fixed what we could, bought in tradesmen when we had to.

Roof leaks in a big storm doesn't necessarily mean you need to whole roof replaced. It may well be a few tiles have come off or the lead underneath has moved, both of which are cheaper fixes.

Or you can do what we did for 5 years and put buckets out in each storm!

I knew people would say this! It isn't necessarily true. Lots of places council houses are like gold dust but please take advice specific to your own LA.
A friend of mine was living her her own 2 bed house with a son and a daughter with a 7 year age gap. She wanted a house near her parents as they helped with childcare and it was convenient for her workplace. It wasn't generally a sought after area. She had to take steps to sell her owned home but they were minimal. Just an advert on social media iirc. She rented a 3 bed council house near to her parents and let hers out to tenants. When the council area became too rough she gave up the tenancy and took a private rental. She wants to eventually sell the owned house and buy a bigger one.
Whether or not your specific council allow this is another question but council housing varies massively. Some are in poor state of repair, most are great with regular new kitchens, and better sized rooms than the new builds near here. Some areas are nicer than others but this isn't a constant, areas change for better or for worse. Good luck!

Our local council housing waiting list for a 3 bed home is 11500 people, the council allocate 150 each year.

That doesn't inc 2 or 4 bed houses.

So it doesn't really matter whether you are eligible of not, you wont get a house.

If you were genuinely homeless, with children, maybe a B&B, without children, a hostel or £300 per month towards an HMO.

You’re probably right about the income but you definitely aren’t eligible while you own a property. I am probably getting confused between UC and housing, as I was looking into them at the same time.

Who owns the other 40 percent of the house? They may fund the repairs as they have a vested interest in keeping the house in good condition. Maybe contact them? Also perhaps your ex could help with a one off payment?

I think you’d need to be willing to move there are places with council houses available so no waitlist. A friend went from Edinburgh to Arran as something available immediately rather than waiting in temp accommodation with fingers crossed.

Are you sure this is true? When I worked in social housing ( admittedly a while ago) it was illegal to take into account income when deciding who to let to.

OP, you would be best contacting either a housing advice agency such as shelter, and then your local authority/ local housing associations to find out what their criteria and waiting lists are like, and what your priority/ waiting time is likely to be with them.

I can’t see that happening anytime soon where l live. The current wait is nearly 5-10 years and it sounds like you would be intentionally making yourself homeless

Is there anything like lendology by you? Not sure where you are but I'm a similar amount of skintness and a single parent homeowner and I managed to get a loan from a company who borrow money from local councils to help homeowners? I spread the cost of my bathroom over 15 years. You could do the same with a new roof. Spread it over 20 years or so. I also have terrible credit and they still lent to me. I think the scheme is to keep homeowners in their homes so they don't become the LA's problem

Sorry to hear that things are a struggle.
Your local HIA may be able to help you get funding for the repairs, here is a link: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/improving-your-home/help-with-home-improvements/#:~:text=Home%20improvement%20agencies%20(HIAs)%20are,maintain%20or%20adapt%20their%20home.
Make sure you request a grant before settling for any offer of a loan, and be clear about all circumstances including your caring responsibilities, because that will increase your chance of getting a grant.
You should also check the house documentation carefully with them or with citizens advice; the freeholder or your insurer may have responsibility for these costs not you, or at least up to your contribution % / excess.

Also as others say leaks look terrible but are often really quick to fix. Especially indoor ones you need a plumber for. (Though don’t get me started on roofers, I’ve had them quote me everything from £50 to £5k for the same job!!)

I was quoted £3-£6k for a new roof on my 2 bed terrace recently so even a new roof isn’t going to send you into negative equity.

Hi OP, sorry you’re feeling so shit. It’s horrible when things are wrong with your house. As everyone says, making yourself homeless for a council house is unlikely to be a viable option.

You could sell your house with its problems. With a 60% mortgage you’re unlikely to have negative equity - the repairs won’t cost that much! You could then rent (and keep the equity in savings till it’s needed), or perhaps you’d be able to afford somewhere similar/smaller/cheaper area.

Alternatively you could remortgage, taking out some equity to do the repairs, and extend the term of your mortgage to keep payments roughly the same. Is that possible - what’s is the term of your mortgage currently and what’s the maximum you could extend to?

Have you got quotes for the works (3 for each job) so you really know what you’re dealing with? It might not be as bad as you think in the grand scheme of things.

If you do the repairs, you also have the option to sell later down the line - again downsizing or moving to a different area to reduce costs. That might only be possible when the kids have left home but it’s means that you wouldn’t be tied to your current mortgage/term forever - there’s scope to reduce in the long term.

A lot of the issues with the house will be covered under insurance.

OP did mention it, but it might have been in a reply (and not opening post).

You unlikely to get a council house around here unless you waited several years but that's only if you overcrowded etc. as you making yourself homeless by selling the house you would be right at the bottom of the list of at all. You have to rent im afraid

Do you have house insurance? Could they look at the leaks ?
You'll have to stop having paid days out and treats for a while.
How come you've moved three times in just over year ?
It will be worth it in the end.