Is moving 'up' the property ladder a possibility?Your stories welcome

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I don't really want a reality check...just hope so I can hold onto the last morsel of optimism I have left. I don't want a great big house, I just want to go home.

Single parent to two boys, one SEN meaning I can only work part time. I work in HR, I have a Masters degree in the subject.

I bought a house last year using the LIFT scheme, I had NO idea what I was doing, I was petrified as we were homeless. I couldnt afford to buy in our home village. The only one there I could afford not too far from my sons schools is in an area we've never spent any time in, needs A LOT of work (much more than I realised, also have had leaks, and at one point raw sewage coming in), its on an extremely busy road that people constantly speed on.

We REALLY want to move back home.

My mortgage is 101k.

The cheapest house in our home village currently for sale is 299k. There was a flat for offers over 170k which has gone.

Is there hope? Could I get a mortgage for 200k and hope another very small house or flat comes up in a few years?

Do I hold back from taking out loans to do up current house past necessities? I've put in insulation, a new upstairs bathroom, fixed the roof, replaced trims. I am in debt.

I just need some guidance and hope, please!

The amount you can get a mortgage for, is going to be dependent on your income. Which I am presuming (as you are part time) isn't particularly high.

The amount you can spend is going to be the combination of your mortgage, your equity, your savings, and any other income you may have.

But you know all this, I am sure.

If you aren't in a position to increase your income, then clearly you aren't in a position to move to a much more expensive house, unless you come into some money from inheritance or a lottery win or something.

It doesn’t sound as if you are in a very strong financial position and the government have a share of the equity of your house which will need to be repaied if you sell. Unless you can significantly increase your income I don’t think doubling your mortgage plus buying and selling fees is currently an option, you have only been in your house a year, try and make it nice for you and your children, it may make you feel much more at home being in a house you have put your stamp on, you need to put down roots where you are and make it home.