House move

[virgo22]

Bit of a long one but here goes! My partner and I have been together for 10 years and we have 2 children. We’ve owned our own home for 5+ years (with one move in between). When we first moved out due to my credit I was the one who applied for the mortgage and this is how it’s been since.
anyway after having two kids, job changes between us and general life we have accumulated around 12 credit card debr although on balance transfers. We also have a loan around 6k we pay £250 a month for.
fast forward to now my partner is training to be a sparky just has the exams to do and I’m in a settled part time job.
while our kids are young we are thinking to sell our home, use our equity of around 80k clear our debt, put some money back into savings for a deposit, and look at renting for the next 3-5 years.
this means that we will have more disposable income from our wages each month due to the debts being cleared, money saved in the bank for a deposit in the future and then still a good chunk of money to be sensible with.
then when we look to buy again in the future we buy with both of our names and both be in a better situation.
has anyone gone from being a home owner to renting? We are still young so feel this could help us have a restart that we need.

I wouldn’t do this personally, rents are so high and you are at the mercy of them going up. You’ll lose out on any equity as your house price increases. I would look to pay off your debts, really focus on that. Then when you are next due for a remortgage add your husband.

@flyinghen so we’re in a situation where we can either fix now for 5 years, or we go with the above option. Only thing is paying these credit cards off are going to take a long time whereas if we sell we would pay them off, plus have money saved and have more of our wages actually free each month so then we could actually afford the rent

Unless you're somewhere with a plentiful supply of family-friendly rental properties, I wouldn't be selling up and renting. These boards are full of woeful tales of families having to leave their rental homes and not being able to find another so having to uproot kids from schools, and the threat of this constantly hanging over them. I'd get some help to restructure your debts, up your working hours and hang on in there until your DP qualifies and is making better money.

Not sure why you would choose the lottery of renting and risk bot getting back on the ladder. Better to concentrate on economising and paying down debt.

I personally wouldn't do this. While you're paying your mortgage your equity is increasing, it's a monthly investment. Your property will, in theory, also increase in value over the next 5 years.

It might feel a relief to be able to pay your debts off but it's a only a short term solution.

Could you look at consolidating your debts, or moving them onto a 0% card to help ease your stress over paying them?

This is an absolutely insane idea.

Can you not remortgage to pay your debts off? Then use the extra money to overpay on your mortgage each month?

@mummyh2016 unfortunately not as my income has reduced since first taking out the mortgage so they wouldn’t see it as affordable, this would have been the easiest thing though!

@Changeeman they are already on 0% but expiring this year and I don’t currently have any offers. It would be ideal if I just consolidate them all but not an option as of today. But that’s a fair point regarding equity over the next 5 years

I don't understand how you think that you will easily get another mortgage in 3-5 years time when the rent will remove your savings and houses are likely to cost more than that do now.

@Kpo58 because I’d have a chunk aside for a deposit and it means we’d have more money each month from wages to afford to without getting into debt

@virgo22 playing devils advocate here but do you think you'd be able to keep the money saved for the deposit, or would you be likely to eat into it?

This is sensible advice.
Landlords are selling up in droves. You are at their mercy if you give up what you’ve got.
Dont, just dont. You could end up homeless at the mercy of a perfectly decent landlord if they decide to pull the rug.

@Changeeman yes if I’m in charge .. no if my partner 😂

This with bells on.

seriously don’t do it, renting is a nightmare I’m about to escape. I’ve had 2 landlords sell up on me, rent increases every year, 1 house I moved from as rent increase was too much, 1 nightmare landlord. This is over a number of years, I’ve moved every 2 years on average, not through any burning desire but due to choices of landlords as above.

I’m just in process of buying to give me & DS some stability at last 🤞

I’d suggest talking to the money advisory service or similiar who will help with debt options.

good luck whatever you decide.

@PuzzlingRecluse thank you so much for the honesty.. definitely shows that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and having some stability for my family is also important. I guess it’s probably worth hanging in here and paying what’s possible on the credit cards!

@virgo22 sorry if that was harsh 🙈 I wouldn’t wish private rented on anyone these days, especially a family. please do seek some advice about your debts though. Money saving expert has loads of good advice there too.

Will your DP start to earn more soon once he’s qualified? If he does can you just live off your current earnings and use any of his extra wages to pay off your credit cards as quickly as possible?
also contact a debt charity to see if there’s any way you can find more 0% credit cards or a low interest loan to consolidate your debts.

@BusterGroove i think my prayers have been answered… turns out I had 0% offers with my existing credit card companies. So it’s going to be a case of moving them around to get the 0% for longer, but going to make a solid plan to get them paid down as soon as possible