Cost of living - can't afford to maintain home?

[DanteThunderstone]

Just thinking aloud really. Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat of money being so tight now, and/or the fear of money being so tight in the immediate future, that you're unable or unwilling to pay for necessary maintenance jobs on your home?

As an example, we really need new windows - the ones we have are old and leaky and half don't even open properly and they do nothing to keep the heat in and their seals are all mouldy. But whereas in different circumstances we might be looking at taking out a loan to get them replaced, now money is so tight and we're so scared about the cost of living and rising fuel costs that we're going to just live with them.

Equally two of our radiators don't work but the couple of hundred quid it would cost to get a plumber to come and diagnose and maybe fix them is being hoarded. It feels too reckless to spend anything now.

A friend can't afford to replace her jammed front door so doesn't use it anymore even though it's a fire exit. Another has a bay window that's leaking through its flat roof and weakening the whole wall but again just can't spend hundreds of pounds. My auntie has a toilet leaking into her floorboards but can't afford to get it sorted. My mum's bannister needs patching up.

And if there are significant numbers of people mike me and my friends who aren't putting even relatively small amounts of money in the pocket of local trades and companies, presumably that's going to have an effect on the tradespeople's budgets and families?

Is anyone else holding back on, or just unable to, keep their homes maintained in a way that a year or so ago wouldn't have been such a critical problem, or am I unusual in knowing so many people putting up with deteriorating conditions cos we're terrified of rising prices?

And yet you still can't find a tradesperson who isn't booked solid for months and charges a fortune.

The render (if thats what its called) is falling off though, there is a massive bit that looks like its just about to fall off the front. How do you put 'fresh stuff' on that. Is render concrete?

render is a mix of sand, cement and water. Go up on a ladder and take out the chunks of render that are about to fall out. Fo this before it falls on its own so it doesn’t hit people or break tiles on a lower roof. Then pack the gap with fresh render and let dry.

but you cant be on a low monthly amount if you are getting DLA/pip/tc etc and a wage coming in,so you have huge out goings
sorry for asking but i know roughly you should be getting a good amount so does not make sense

If you have disabilities then your energy usage can often be a lot higher due to having to wash more / use the washing machine more due to incontinence issues etc. We can’t reduce our usage any more than we do. Our costs are higher than most.

Ds aged 10 has complex needs and hasn’t been in school since December last year due to his specialist placement breaking down. He has a school place starting next month but I suspect that won’t work either (very long story) so he and I are mostly at home most days. Again, higher use of energy etc.

We may not be on the breadline but we will be with the huge energy price increase. We simply can’t afford to pay more.

We cant get up a ladder, we have to get someone in and that costs money and also we need to find someone reliable, its so hard to work out who will do a good job and not rip you off. Half the time I ring round a recommendation and no one gets back to us

The large benefit receipts that people often reference are for people in rented accommodation where their benefits are paying the rent (or some of it).

This is a thread about people who own their homes, no help from benefits for that.

This.

I have 2 radiators that don't work. I've had two plumbers come to quote only to never be heard of again, so I don't think they're struggling for work.

im also disabled and a homeowner so i do have some idea

im on esa and on lower pip no mobility ifon full pip/dla can be on a good amount

i just dont undestand how you cant get some things fixed and you will get warm home payment and help for bills from the goverment

anyway hope things work out with your DC's new school

Thank you.

I think every situation is different.

One of our dc is 19 and at university so we are having to support them somewhat as well - even though they do get full grants etc there are always things they need and they need help with travel costs home / there after holidays etc.

Both my son and I have difficulties eating certain things so our food bill is high as we tend to all eat different things. I do try and combat this as much as I can but there are some things I can’t change (I have lupus and sjorgens syndrome and often struggle to eat solid foods).

Our household budget is always stretched to the max. We have some debt due to having to pay for previous repairs to the roof etc. We aren’t starting from a point of being debt free and being able to use everything coming in for food / bills etc.

i dont agree if you are getting high payment and depending on your needs some peoples disabilities dont cost much some peoples do but lets not make out if you are on a few add ons and have a fullrime wage etc coming in and disability does not cost alot you can have a fair wack coming in

And this year we won’t qualify for the warm home discount either as the criteria has changed - we were in the broader group and now won’t get it at all. (Have a google).

The sad reality is this is going to be endemic across the whole country and not just in the homes either. Maintaining cars and pets will be hit hard too along with diets and nutrition. The gulf between those who have money and those who have nothing will just get wider still.

I find your tone quite unfair.

I don’t need to prove myself to you or anyone here. We are struggling. We are low income. If we only have one low wage coming in and are on tax credits then we are. Maybe not as low as some but compared to many, it’s low. We have high outgoings we can’t change. That’s not our fault. Things are difficult for lots of people right now. It’s okay for people to say they’re finding things difficult.

there is talk of homes falling in price but honestly i dont know how new buyers manage to buy but then i do live in a very expensive southern part of the country

i do think the middle will be squeezed and if they are finding it hard the economy will keep on tanking as they often use trades/home improvments

im pretty lucky as over the last couple of years have graduaally got good trades in to sought out here but i live a pretty simple life and thankfully my son has just left Manchester uni so dont have to help him out so much although he is living rent free here,oh it never stops with kids does it

please anybody if your having problems with leaks please try to have them atleast looked at,water damage is one of the worst things to cause long term damage and i know its tough but will save you money longterm

no you dont but please dont make out you have min wage coming in CTC is a big chunk if you get the right dla etc and then pip etc

i will leave it there now as im derailing

Different situation, as we're renting. But there are quite a few things that need fixing (we've done many ourselves) that we have been putting off telling the landlord about as we don't want to draw attention to ourselves! Our rent, as we've been here 10 years, is almost half what a similar sized house would cost here now (though this place would need a LOT of work to fetch the same amount!) as it's only gone up once.
Also, because when the landlord does send anyone to do repairs, he sends cheap and useless people so they never do a decent job anyway (I did a better job of resealing the leaky, mouldy bath sealant than the 'plumber' we had round to do it).

DH wants to buy this house, but it needs so much work doing that if we could afford to buy it, we'd never afford to fix it up. I'd rather relocate completely and buy somewhere that doesn't need £50k spending on it.

For goodness sakes. I have been completely open. My dh earns just above min wage for a full time job. We receive tax credits and disability benefits. I haven’t lied about anything. We are fortunate to have one of us working and own our house (which we purchased originally when I was the higher earner before I became disabled). I know we are more fortunate than many. However, we are a low income family and we will struggle with the energy price increases to the point we will have no money for repairs to our home. That isn’t difficult to understand. It really isn’t.

maybe if it is simple things look on youtube,for windows can you still get that film you use a hairdryer on and keep them sealed for the winter and are easy to take of in an emergency

take a step back from your home check that their is no tiles of or have moved,if moved either re fix or take them of as you dont want any falling on anybody

this year i had no idea a big ridge tile had partially fallen down my son noticed it when he was walking to my house,luckily the next day he came round with some cement and stuck it down

you can buy ready made cement from b&q

so many in rented live in sub standard homes

my friend has rented the same house for 16yrs she has no heating at all and does the small jobs as she is scared that if she tells the landlord he will move her out as has happened to some other people

she has even replaced the kitchen doors on units with some that somebody was throwing out it's that bad

her bathroom is approx 25yrs old

andnow there is a glut around here of lanlords selling up and especially familys cant find anywhere to live and some rented places are in a terrible state

average monthly rent on a standard 3 bed house is £1300 - 1500 a month

I thought people were going to be happy if landlords sold up.

Certification for Windows can be done through building regs for a small (compared to the £££££ for using a big firm) fee. They check stuff like safety glass used where required, sufficient potential fire escape routes and so on.

We had to get it done when we sold our last house and, tbh, it wouldn't be an issue unless you are selling.

There is a lot of info about a lot of home msintsinence stuff on YouTube, DIY forums and so on.

Try eBay and marketplace for old windows, guttering etc..

Believe it or not tiktok has helped me with tutorials on diy

@bellac11 i am just on the verge of investing in double glazing. The current windows have no thermal coating and several have blown seal (I’ve already done the tape to isolate etc)

can I ask, have you noticed a big difference since making the investment in your new windows: doors?