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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be absolutely sick of DP's flat

241 replies

Grapeflavour · 09/03/2022 20:20

I've been living with DP since the start of the pandemic. Both our companies have gone fully remote so we're wfh.

We live in a small one bedroom flat, on a main road, that DP part owns (SO). Every day I work in the bedroom and he works in the living room. He has a specific working set up that doesn't fit anywhere except for the living room.

I'm absolutely sick of these four walls, and the road noise. I spend 20+ hours a day, working/relaxing/sleeping in this room (although I can only manage 4-5 hours of sleep a night because of the traffic). There's nothing in the area apart from a convenience store and a couple of takeaway places. Have to get a train or bus or bike at least 15/20 mins to get anywhere. There's nowhere else I could work apart from the library (which is small and always packed) or a Costa (also always packed), and neither are very practical for video calls. I've had enough. DP would quite happily spend days on end in the flat without leaving, and doesn't get it.

Not really sure what to do, how can I feel better about this situation? We can't afford to move anywhere that would be much better, especially now costs are rising. I know I'm lucky to have a roof over my head but at the same time I'm in my mid-30s, have a decent, professional job and just frustrated that I'm still living like a teenager, holed up in a bedroom all day. I don't think I can face years more of this, but don't want to leave DP. Also coming to terms with the fact that we'll never be able to afford kids, or have room for them, which is just crazy.

OP posts:
Talkwhilstyouwalk · 11/03/2022 08:54

Sounds awful!! Could you rent it out and go rent somewhere yourselves?

MRex · 11/03/2022 09:18

@ErickBroch

So many people not even reading OPs comments. They cannot sell and they cannot rent it out. Check out 'End the Cladding Scandal' for more info - it's disgusting.
They can buy in her name or rent somewhere in a very cheap area of the country to get more space and better quality of life, eg. County Durham. Property left empty save for when they travel to see friends one weekend a month. When the cladding is fixed, then they sell. Given that a neighbour sold at a loss of half "market value", that would also appear to still be an option. Walking away with £0 and starting again might be the sensible option, if the alternative is years of misery.
BIWI · 11/03/2022 09:24

Well, I don't think the OP is coming back anyway!

MRex · 11/03/2022 09:44

Bear in mind @ErickBroch - she has £350/mth disposable income after bills. That would fully cover the mortgage on a £65k home, on her own. It's about whether she wants to take those steps, not whether she can take those steps.

Heyahun · 11/03/2022 09:47

350£ left at the end of the month is LOADS!

I manage on 150£ for me & my daughter for the month

Dixiechickonhols · 11/03/2022 10:14

Do you like to travel op? Is it worth arranging a few weekends away. You sound so stuck in a rut. You are earning 30,000 ish in a public sector job. If you are fully remote you could work anywhere or get another similar job.
There is life outside a big city.
In parts of Lancashire 30,000 salary would easily get you a mortgage a small house or flat. You’d have access to countryside for walking and cycling. It doesn’t sound like you see friends a lot anyway but if you did it’s 2.15 mins in train to London from Preston.

Obviously it’s part of a much bigger conversation with your boyfriend but there are options. Sometimes knowing there are options makes things easier even if you choose to stay put.

MaChienEstUnDick · 11/03/2022 13:11

@Grapeflavour

Can I just confirm: we can't move. We are stuck in the flat until the defects are fixed which is likely to take years, we have no idea when. During which time the mortgage, shared ownership rent, loan, fees etc and bills all still need paying. We don't have the money for a second home.

Also I go for a morning walk every day... along a hellish, congested, miserable artery road to a small green covered in dog shit. I generally come back feeling worse! I try to cycle everywhere, and usually get out on my bike most days, although again it's hardly a pleasant experience around here - mostly trying to not get flattened by lorries or taken out by mopeds.

I knew you were going to come back and say that.

You are depressed love. Only depression can explain this so, so negative mindset.

Cycle to somewhere nice. Get the tube to somewhere nice.
Find a co-working space half an hour's cycle away. Split the cost with someone else if you need to.
Answer the question about going back into the office.
Sell the flat at a loss, or sublet it.

Or just sit and waste your life. You should also read the pp who outlined a worst case scenario...

Kennykenkencat · 16/03/2022 18:45

ErickBroch
So many people not even reading OPs comments. They cannot sell and they cannot rent it out. Check out 'End the Cladding Scandal' for more info - it's disgusting

But they can sell. It might not make them what they want and it could be the equivalent of paying off the mortgage and walking away with £0. But freedom to be able to go anywhere. To rent anywhere for a couple of years and save the money that they were paying out on service charge and shared ownership rent and fire martials each month etc. They could rent a larger house with bedrooms or reception rooms that they could have an office each for probably less or at least similar to what they are paying out in monthly mortgage repayments.

It is a hard thing to do but these type of places I see people hanging on wasting their lives because they have spent so much. It’s the sunk costs fallacy.

Blondeshavemorefun · 16/03/2022 19:14

@Kennykenkencat

ErickBroch So many people not even reading OPs comments. They cannot sell and they cannot rent it out. Check out 'End the Cladding Scandal' for more info - it's disgusting

But they can sell. It might not make them what they want and it could be the equivalent of paying off the mortgage and walking away with £0. But freedom to be able to go anywhere. To rent anywhere for a couple of years and save the money that they were paying out on service charge and shared ownership rent and fire martials each month etc. They could rent a larger house with bedrooms or reception rooms that they could have an office each for probably less or at least similar to what they are paying out in monthly mortgage repayments.

It is a hard thing to do but these type of places I see people hanging on wasting their lives because they have spent so much. It’s the sunk costs fallacy.

Agree

As I have done on a few posts with you @Kennykenkencat

bellac11 · 16/03/2022 19:37

@Kennykenkencat

ErickBroch So many people not even reading OPs comments. They cannot sell and they cannot rent it out. Check out 'End the Cladding Scandal' for more info - it's disgusting

But they can sell. It might not make them what they want and it could be the equivalent of paying off the mortgage and walking away with £0. But freedom to be able to go anywhere. To rent anywhere for a couple of years and save the money that they were paying out on service charge and shared ownership rent and fire martials each month etc. They could rent a larger house with bedrooms or reception rooms that they could have an office each for probably less or at least similar to what they are paying out in monthly mortgage repayments.

It is a hard thing to do but these type of places I see people hanging on wasting their lives because they have spent so much. It’s the sunk costs fallacy.

You might have missed the posts that talked about flats that are not allowed to be sold if they are shared ownership at a price lower than a certain level. The landlord or housing association or whoever owns the other part of the ownership doesnt allow it.

OP doesnt say that its shared ownership but other things she has said seem to imply it.

So its not the case that anyone can sell their property for a price someone will pay, if the freeholder wont allow it you cant.

Kennykenkencat · 16/03/2022 20:24

bellac11
Others have sold in the block for 1/2 market value so it is possible to sell.

It’s a case of being brave enough to admit your mistakes and let go.

Get in touch with the investor who bought the other flat and see if they will take this flat at similar price or ring one of the we buy any house people and see what they will offer (knock off an extra £20 or £30,000 as they will probably knock that amour off at the end)

Once you are both free then you can start to realise how much better off you are and how much better your life will be without a mill stone dragging you down both mentally and financially

bellac11 · 16/03/2022 20:30

Ok I missed that one

But if the partner is left with debt that he cant pay, how does that work? What does the mortgage then turn into, will the bank allow that?

Dixiechickonhols · 16/03/2022 20:41

Op isn’t coming back but there’s a lot of mention of ‘they’. There’s no ‘they’ it’s his shared ownership flat. He obviously needs legal advice if he can’t or won’t pay but if he defaults/hands it back to bank it’s his credit messed up not Op’s. By same token Op lives a crappy life for 5 years, issue with flat gets sorted, he sells at profit then promptly leaves her she’s been through 5 years of awful living standards for nothing.

bellac11 · 16/03/2022 20:51

The OP might have a joint account with her partner and I think that means that if her partner has poor credit, it might affect her

In any case, just because he owns it and she doesnt, they are a partnership arent they?

rosiebl · 16/03/2022 21:25

Could you spend some time living with family?

Kennykenkencat · 16/03/2022 22:00

No idea about the mortgage amount but wouldn’t the bank just turn it into a loan (negative equity in the 90s) if there is anything to be paid

It’s got to be cheaper than what he is paying out at the moment each month and getting nothing to show for it but more stress and more debts in the hope that if he puts his life on hold, keeps paying and getting into more debt that one day he will be able to sell the flat for a higher amount than he has paid out.

Ultimately it is a calculation
5 years of ever rising service charges+
5 years of mortgage payments +
5 years of rising ground rents +
Cost of putting the building right +
What ever the base price he could get for it

As opposed to selling now for the base price now and moving out with “Gapeflavour into a more appropriate size place where they can share the rent, he can save whatever he would have spent on the flat + what’s ever else left over. Add to that Grapeflavour* saving.
And overall them both being happier.

They can both live anywhere which is something that they aren’t taking advantage of atm. In a couple of years they can both buy together and end up in 5 years in a better place
There are some really nice places that don’t cost a great deal to live.

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