To sell my house and try and get a council house? To think I'm too poor to own?

[RedFence]

I don't want to rub people up the wrong way, I know its not easy to get a council house, I've never had one before, but I am at breaking point.

I've posted a few times about my house; I bought using a government scheme which means I have 60% equity. I am a single parent to 2 sons, 9&13, 9 yo is SEN. I work PT around their school as youngest cannot attend wrap around.

I bought the house whilst we were homeless, 3 of us in my mums tiny and damp spare room.

The house had so many issues not on the home report and because I'm stupid and didn't 'see' the issues. I had to get a new bathroom due to leaking, insulation, roof repair, raw sewage coming up through pipes into bathroom, it's been awful. I am in debt. And then last night, I come downstairs to a large area of the wall wet and dripping because the roof is leaking again. I can't afford it, it'll be another debt.

I have £9 in my account. I behind on my council tax, every month just seems to be a new repair. It's unsustainable. I skip meals, I haven't had my hair cut for 9 months, I wear trainers with holes in them. I don't mind if the alternative my sons miss out, I just want them to be okay. We have moved three times in just over a year, I feel so guilty.

I feel I was never in a position to be a home owner, inevitably I bought a house with issues because that's what I could afford, but I can afford the repairs, or the upgrades.

I don't know who I can talk to about this. I don't know what to do. Private rents are rare and ridiculously expensive, we also have a 5year old dog. I am breaking.

My apology is someone else has already answered this. This is part of the problem with shared ownership, the housing association may own 75% of the property, which you rent from them whilst ‘owning’ the other 25% (or 60/40 as with op), but the entirety of responsibility for repairs etc falls on the tenant.

It is possible the HA may be prepared to buy the whole property and rent it back to OP. It’s worth asking them

She bought under a shared ownership scheme, which means despite only ‘owning’ (via a mortgage) 60% of the property, and renting the other 40%, she will be entirely responsible for repairs. It’s a lousy system.

Worth people knowing there is a similar lousy system with self repair tenancies on hard to let properties.
They used to have some important pros balancing out the cons, and for desperate families offered a way of being housed. Over time most of the pros have been stripped away leaving those tenants in a lousy situation.

Sorry I have been AWOL, I tried to take some time.

The house is a shared equity, not ownership. The equity belongs to the Scottish Ministers/Scottish Government. So when I sell, 40% of value goes back to there.

My youngest has ASD&ADHD.

Thank you so much for your support, I absolutely did not expect so much at all.

I itemised my spending, the huge majority is spent at supermarkets. It was more than I expected. Followed by food out and days out.

I think most areas where I am failing, I.e spending, feeling so strongly about the house, are driven by guilt.

We moved three times last year 1)leaving our lovely home of 9 years after LL told me she was selling (she didn't sell, she increased the rent from 650 (v fortunate) to 1371.)
2)moved to a flat that was then put on the market
3)bought this house.

I did go back to solicitors and home report company - no luck. The seller of the house did come back to say there was a plumbing issue 6 months prior but didn't tell me what. Home report wouldn't even allow me to speak to anyone. I was quite ill with stress at this point, to the point of hearing voices, so I dropped it. My solicitors didn't return my calls and it all felt too much.

I had a fix put on the roof, it's a flat roof part and water was getting behind the felt. Ceiling is drying.

Boiler must have a leak, but I can't find dampness anywhere. I have a trace service on my insurance, but it feels too much to look at right now.

I'm trying to tell myself, just give yourself 2 years, pay as much debt off as I can, get involved in all projects i can at work and then look at promotions.

Since leaving the our home, the one I brought my children up in, I really grieve my children being young, and I don't want to miss anymore time. I think I'm overwhelmed and have very little support.

I was going to see if I could access any grants.

I looked at shared ownership homes, there aren't any in our county, and going by some of the comments, I may be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire?

I don't think I could ask my children to go and live with their Dad for a year...I think that may be asking too much, and I think I would feel awful guilt. Although I do think it would help us in the long run.

I really appreciate everyone for taking the time to reply.

You've done the important thing and got the roof done.

You might be able to get a grant / free boiler.

Keep your chin up. You'll get there in the end. It's your house nobody can take it away from you

I know it doesn't feel like it at the moment but shared equity is a good thing rather than shared ownership where you would pay rent as well as the mortgage.

My first home was shared equity and if I had my time again I would not have remodelled as much as I did. Apparently most people only decorate.

@user1471538283 that's interesting you mention wishing you hadn't remodeled as much, why is that?

Also interesting that you mentioned most people don't remodel, is that most people who buy using shared Equity ?

Because my solicitor mentioned something like this as I was leaving after signing missives...he told me not to do too much and that most people who buy shared equity don't really move 'up' the ladder, they just stay at the same level.

I am a fan of shared equity! It gave me my favourite first home!

But I spent a fortune remodelling after I had been there years and when it came time to sell I didn't really recoup the money as you would do so if you fully owned. I had a surveyor out when I was selling and my home would have increased quite significantly with the market without the modernisations. The surveyor told me that most people using shared equity only decorate and instead rely on market forces to increase the value of the property (or break even). In effect the government received a shared of the uplift that I had paid for. But when or if you come to sell get two valuations. One including the work and one without.

If things had been different I planned to stay in that house forever. I absolutely loved it. But with the benefit of hindsight I shouldn't have remodelled as much or spent so much on high end products.

If your home is watertight and your boiler is sorted I would just decorate if it needs it. I'm sure it will be lovely.

My understanding was that unlike shared ownership you cannot staircase. In my case I would have had to have remortgaged to buy the 25% owned by the government rather than a bit at a time. My home was also secure should something happen to me (I had insurance to cover my share of the mortgage).

But the beauty of shared equity is that when you have some spare cash in the future you could overpay your mortgage and be mortgage free sooner. I know that seems like a lifetime away but it will come!

Also I wouldn't jump into shared ownership because you then pay rent on the bit you don't own and my understanding is that all the work you still have to pay for.

I know it's hard. I found it so hard when my DS was small. But you've done so well! You've secured a secure, safe home for your DC and you should be proud. I promise you it will get easier eventually.

If I can help at all please PM me.

This certainly. If you bought the house from a council, you might consider putting in a complaint for mi-selling. There are council repair grants but you need to have your application all ready to go and put it straight in on April 5th when the budgets change (although there are other grants that may not be at that date.
There are folks who buy homes and rent them back having upgraded, if you are willing to give it up. Or perhaps come to a deal with a local property developer to buy it and evict you?

If you sell your house and make yourself homeless, the council won't house you. You'll be put on lowest priority which for me was 15 years wait time and you may not get a house, it could be a flat.

What a total nightmare for you. I am so sorry. These buying schemes don't always work out well for the buyer and personally I don't think people are offered enough advice before going ahead.
I'd suggest talking to Shelter about your options.
One very drastic possibility if you can't find some way to either sell or repair the house, is going bankrupt. You should qualify for housing if you are homeless. Your mum would have to say she can't take you in - it sounds as f she doesn't have room anyway.
Or you might look at getting a live-in job somewhere, say as housekeeper or gardener.
You'll find a way. Don't despair.

This zombie thread hasn’t been updated by the OP for six months. Just saying.