Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to give up my council house and buy a house?

106 replies

dirtyface · 12/08/2013 08:51

here is our situation, i am 33 and dh is 42. am (mostly) a SAHM to 2 dcs relying on tax credits and a very small income from a (very) part time job :o

DH earns about 28k, which is an ok salary where we are are (in the midlands). we are in a 3 bed council house which i was lucky enough to get a few years ago, as was a single mum at the time. my house is my bit of security, i love it, i love the area even though its a bit rough lol and i know if the worst happened the kids and i would still have it.

i always assumed buying was out of reach due to mad house prices in the last few years. but did a bit of research and looks like we could buy a decentish house for about 80 - 90k. nothing great, just a small 3 bed. we have a couple of grand in savings already and could easily save a few more by really cutting back and would poss get help from my Dparents Blush as they are very keen for me to buy a house.

however, i worry if we bought a place, if dh and i split up i would be left a single parent again in private rented. as this is exactly what happened to his exW. as, like me, she didnt work, she was a SAHM, and he paid the mortgage etc and got the mortgage based on his salary. i would never get the security of a council place again.

DH is opposed to buying as he owned before we met and says its not all that. he had money problems and at one point was depressed and almost suicidal due to the pressure of trying to keep a roof over his familys head when interest rates went up :( and i never want him to feel that again. he feels there is more security in renting ie if he lost his job we could just sign on and get HB to pay the rent, whereas we could lose everything if we owned a house and he lost his job (or worse). in fact money stresses were one of the (admittedly many) things that caused him and exW to split.

i also worry that with DH's age we may not be offered a mortgage anyway. as he would be 67 by the time its paid off. plus both of us have had debts / bad credit in the past (although they have mostly been cleared or are being cleared now)

however, buying has always been a big ambition of mine, and one of my biggest life regrets is that i did not buy in the late 90's / early 00's when i had the chance and when prices were very affordable. and i think its a now or never thing tbh. unless we have a lottery win :o

something i would also add is that we are TTC for #3. so if that happens it will effect our finances (obviously)

phew! sorry its long but would appreciate some advice please :) x

OP posts:
mrsjay · 12/08/2013 10:57

I know a couple who were still paying a mortgage at 70 and tbh if people havn't got a great pension they would get their rent paid by Housing benefit

Original poster
dirtyface · 12/08/2013 11:03

oh god thats what terrifies me runningchick

could they REALLY take away my secure tenancy, jeezus

OP posts:
titchy · 12/08/2013 11:04

But you can make plans to pay your mortgage off by the time you retire - indeed you should. Presumably HB would only pay for a one-bedder so if the OP is happy to either be turfed out of her house upon retirement, or to make up the HB shortfall from their pensions, she'd be better off buying.

primallass · 12/08/2013 11:13

I don't necessarily agree that the right to buy should ever have been made law. However, in your situation I would probably exercise that right, particularly withe the uncertainty over tenancies and the bedroom tax.

JamNan · 12/08/2013 11:36

Please note that HB is not just for the unemployed. In fact most HB payments are paid to the working poor, disabled and the retired.

OP if you are still paying off debt I doubt if your credit rating is squeaky clean and you might not get a mortgage anyway. Poor credit rating stays on record for six years I think. You can obtain a copy of your credit report from Experian which costs about £2.

I think you would be mad to take on the extra debt and stress that buying might entail. £28k pa is not a great deal when you have to take into consideration increased council tax, maintenance and all the extras that owning brings with it. Having said that does your council/HA run any schemes for part rent/part buy? That way of buying might be a lot more manageable.

Good luck.

mrsjay · 12/08/2013 11:48

what jamnan said I had debt when i was buying my house using the right to buy scheme (It was £200 and it was years old I did pay it obviously ) which was supposedly set up so councils could put money into more social housing PFFT that didnt happen , anyway if you have a secure tenancy now they can not take it away from you

NutcrackerFairy · 12/08/2013 11:49

Sorry, I am just struck by 3 bedroom houses costing £90,000 where you are OP.

DH and I are looking for a 3 bedroom house in a fairly down at heel area of South East London.... can't seem to find anything decent for less than about £300,000. And for £300,000 you absolutely have to compromise somewhere, i.e. nowhere near good school, on dodgy road, house needs renovation, etc.

There are definitely professional people here in SE London on about the same salary as your DP OP - nurses, paramedics, police, etc.

But you couldn't get a mortgage for £300,000 on that sort of salary.

No wonder ordinary people struggle to live in London! Not sure how we are going to manage it tbh!

Sorry for hijack OP. I haven't got anything sensible to say on your dilemma as I don't know how it works with council houses but I also wondered if perhaps you could buy your house... would this work for you?

Runningchick123 · 12/08/2013 12:04

Nutcracker - Birmingham, manchester and most cities outside of London you can get a 2/3 bed house for under 100k (you can spend several million also, depending on the area).
I have 5 bed houses near me in good areas for well under 300k and reasonable 3 bed terraces for 130k. Ex council 3 beds a couple of miles away are around the 90k mark and 2 bed terraces start at about 80k. It makes much more sense to be a home owner in these areas, but in London social housing is something worth holding onto.

Alphabollocks · 12/08/2013 12:09

Hmm.. begs the question of whether you could buy a house and rent it out and take the rental income and still live in your council house. However, there may be a question about the morality of that action... Deposits and interest rates are higher on BTL mortgages and sometimes BTL mortgages are interest-only, so you wouldn't actually pay it off, unless you got a repayment mortgage.

trinity0097 · 12/08/2013 12:09

How will you feel when the kids have left home having to give up your family home to move to a smaller council tax or pay a bedroom tax on the empty bedrooms?

MrsBucketxx · 12/08/2013 12:13

Its not a tax!!!!

Sorry op off topic.

bearleftmonkeyright · 12/08/2013 12:15

I would try and squirrel away as much as you can over the next year or so. The bigger deposit you have the better position you will be in to get a good deal on mortgage. Your right to buy position may be clearer and you may be able to get a job with more hours.

happybubblebrain · 12/08/2013 12:25

I don't think it's now or never for you.
I think you should stay put, save as much as you possibly can and then wait for the housing crash (that needs to happen) after the next election. You might have enough saved to buy without a mortgage.

IneedAsockamnesty · 12/08/2013 12:25

Some info for those who don't know but are spouting inaccurate things.

There is no uncertainty with social tenancies they are lifetime, any changes that are made will not apply to current ones only new tenancies.

On the salary the op's dh earns they get NO HB so the under occupying rules do not apply,they only apply to people on housing benefit.

Even if the op was subject to it,they do not make you leave or downsize they just charge you for each additional room but its not increasing your rent it just decreases the amount of HB you can get. People aged over 61 are exempt from it as well.

Social tenancies were never intended to be solely used for people who were in crisis nor were they only for the very poor.

Keep your house if you want its yours you pay for it and you have the right to stay in it and benefit from the security it offers.

Original poster
dirtyface · 12/08/2013 12:26

wow nutcracker thats crazy Shock sorry to hear you are in such a tough situation :(

my friend has a 300k house. its a huge 5 bed detached on a gated private road in the middle of beautiful countryside in one of the most affluent areas in my county

london prices are stupid though

and trinity it will be shit of course, and i hate thinking about it :( but we'll just have to suck it up. at least at the moment, we know we can stay here for at least 10 - 15 years

aargh its so hard to know what to do, but i could be in worse situations i guess

OP posts:
Original poster
dirtyface · 12/08/2013 12:28

and many thanks sockreturning, i really value your input, i have nodded along to your knowledge and great advice to others on these kind of things on other threads x

OP posts:
Feelingworried67 · 12/08/2013 12:29

I am struggling to get past how you are entitled to tax credits when your DP earns 28k and you have a part time job... DP is a full time work earning 20k i am a SAHM and we are not entitled to ANY tax credits or housing benefit ShockHmm we have one child and one on the way.... I take it your still claiming as single?! HmmHmm

And if you don't trust him don't buy, but if you have your name on the mortgage and children I don't see why you wouldn't want to as a court would argue that you were more entitled to it... Also if you give up your council house you can reapply in 5years time. Also you can privately rent accommodation and receive housing benefit.

IcedCoffeeQueen · 12/08/2013 12:32

I would if we could op. Dh only earns 25k though so i'm not sure we could get a mortgage. Currently we rent from HA and yes its very cheap but we live very far from friends/family and any sort of support network there is zero SN provision in our region which we believe we are going to need for ds and we are desperately unhappy where we are, home swapping attempts has come to nothing, private rental is far too expensive and we would really be struggling plus no security is not a risk we would take.

I know there are various schemes to help first time buyers with 0-5% deposits, this may be worth looking into as we are at the moment.

primallass · 12/08/2013 12:45

Absolutely Sockreturningpixie, but all of that is true at the moment. Who knows what changes could be made eventually.

Jan49 · 12/08/2013 12:48

Feelingworried, are you sure you're right about your tax credits? I think you'll be entitled to child tax credits but not working tax credits.

Feminine · 12/08/2013 12:49

feeling I suspect you are not getting the right tax credits perhaps?

Why are you so angry with op Confused

I think you should check on line.

mrsjay · 12/08/2013 12:57

there was a new thing that came out that a couple earning a certain amount could claimworking tax credits and 1 earner household couldnt is that not right ? we lost CTC because of it

Runningchick123 · 12/08/2013 13:01

Sockreturningpixie - all of what you have written is true about social housing as it stands now, but we don't know what decisions will be made in the future. A few years ago nobody would have thought we would see a reduction in housing benefit for having extra bedrooms, but we have, so who knows what schemes they will come up with next.

Fairyegg · 12/08/2013 13:02

I admire you wanting to buy but you would be putting yourself in a very vulnerable position if you did. The fact your dp opposes it isn't great either, and he's right in what he's saying. You may also find you struggle to get a mortgage due to past debt, they would probably only give you a mortage until he's 60, so If he's 40 now that's a 20 year mortgage which is obviously going to cost you more than a 25 year one.
Feeling, surely you at least get the £40 a month child tax credit? You'll find you get a lot more when you have 2 kids.

Feminine · 12/08/2013 13:10

running they won't be able to do away with 'lifetime' tenancies though.

Its a bit different from this silly bedroom 'tax'

The tenancies are binding...from either the council or HA.

:)