Housing & child illness

[Emmylou89]

This might be a long story, but I’ll try to keep it clear.

In July 2024, my family and I were fortunate enough to be approved for a mortgage. We don’t have particularly high-paying jobs, but we saved for years to secure a deposit. We bought an older three-bedroom ex-council house that needed quite a lot of work and repairs.

Only two months after moving in, my autistic 8-year-old son developed a severe UTI that resulted in a two-week hospital stay. Since then, over the past year, he has had seven more UTIs and now requires a suprapubic catheter and a feeding tube. Because of this, I’ve had to significantly reduce my working hours and go onto Carer’s Allowance to look after him, and it doesn’t seem like this will be short-term.

As a result, my partner and I are really struggling with the ongoing costs of owning a home, and we feel that selling may be our only option.

Does anyone know whether the Council might be able to offer any help or support in this situation?

I would be looking into doing what you can to keep your home
Speak to your lender and see if you can take a payment holiday / extend the term of your mortgage
I’m sorry your DS isn’t well - is there any increase in hours or job change your DH could get?

I don’t know about a councils obligations but would have thought you would have to join a waiting list which already super long (as in years to wait)

DH does overtime whenever he can, but unfortunately it’s still not enough, especially as we have to regularly attend hospital appointments 30 miles from home. I don’t have a driving licence due to having epilepsy, which makes things even more difficult.