That single parents are not given the same boosts as first time buyers?

[rentalhead]

As someone who has previously owned and whose finances are now diminished for lots of reasons due to split and family, I'm stuck in expensive housing that I need for my family. I can't just rent a one bedroom flat like I could in my 20s or early 30s. I find it difficult to understand that after a lifetime of paying mortgages on time and now triple that on rent there is no help for single family households who have better earning potential but cannot get out of a renting trap and the impact of that on everything. Financial emotional and mental health. It's surely an increasingly important issue for people everywhere who are being pushed into worse outcomes in later life? It stops saving for retirement and an ability to support kids effectively. Why are mortgage companies not making products to help people who have a long history of responsible behaviour but through no fault of their own don't have big deposits to pay?

Because mortgage companies charge based on risk and profit and not social enterprise.

Yabu, you previously owned so presumably have some sort of deposit? Not sure the state should have to fund your life choices. However, I think everyone should get more help but there’s no money for that.

I’m not sure what you mean. They’re businesses, not charities. They don’t care about anyone’s circumstances.

Why are mortgage companies not making products to help people who have a long history of responsible behaviour but through no fault of their own don't have big deposits to pay?

What on earth do you think mortgage companies are doing for first time buyers?

People would pretend to be single until after the purchase surely.

But help from who? I agree it's hard but life is tough for a lot of folk.

I'm fairly sure that the only 'help' first time buyers yet is that they can put a lower deposit down. The rationale being that they haven't had the opportunity to gain equity from previous properties. So if you've already owned you should have a deposit?
First time buyers pay the same interest rates, if not more as they're higher risk.

I’m in Ireland and we have what are called fresh start mortgages which would apply in these situations.

But there have been schemes!

As a single parent I was able to get a mortgage, I could also have applied for the help to buy scheme. The interest payments were insane so I chose not to do it, but it was an option.

What exactly do you want them to offer?

Shared ownership ? You don't have to be ftb

At what point in her opening post did the OP ask that the state ‘fund her life choices’? I am a single parent, I didn’t choose my ex to sleep around, deplete our assets and run our business into the ground. Nor did I choose for him not to pay maintenance - and I can assure you that the state has done fuck all to help with that, despite its legislation and organisations that are supposed to help. Despite an excellent credit history, buying alone at this point would be very difficult for me because let’s face it, posters are forgetting that any available deposit would have been shared with the ex.

The OP makes a good point. Mortgage providers could look to develop a product that helps out people following a divorce. That’s not unreasonable.

You’re being completely unreasonable. You do you expect to fund this? I saved for over 20 years to get my house - the housing market needs to be easier for everyone, not just select groups that have a good lobby.

And you CAN live in shared housing, or a one bedroom option. Plenty of families or parents and kids do exactly that. It’s not a glamorous option, and I certainly understand not choosing it if there’s any alternative - but if your high rent is the only limiting factor to buying a home, maybe that’s a sacrifice you need to make?

Why are mortgage companies not making products to help people who have a long history of responsible behaviour but through no fault of their own don't have big deposits to pay?

Because they're businesses not charities.

We seem to have become a society where people have this expectation that everything is completely fair and everyone should be entitled to the same opportunities as everyone else. In reality, certain circumstances and situations are not for other people to solve for you. Lots of people fall on hard times and we can’t always expect others to pick us back up again. That’s the reality in a country with 67 million people.

The only people who get zero help are single childfree people.

There is so much support from tax payers once you have children, you are eligible for child benefit, tax credits, UC top ups. Not sure who you think should be funding even more for you

Some people want the world on a plate….

Depends on how you define single parent

I don't think the OP is asking for anything to be funded or wanting anything on a plate..

She's asking that mortgage companies would have some sort of product where you could use your good track record of making payments and your current income to be able to purchase with a lower deposit. The mortgage companies will make more if anything as they will charge higher interest as their risk is greater. But it still would be better than paying sky high rents and never being able to own and build equity.

It's not unreasonable and would help the current housing situation massively.

Of course it’s harder on one income. But the welfare state helps as we all know. I sympathise with single families plights but not sure I agree this should be a policy concern.

Try shared ownership or affordable housing. These products exist they’re just not exclusively for single parents.

In the past@rentalhead some FTB deals have been open to people who have no property to sell rather than being actual FTB. It depends on the lender and their criteria. Worth asking around.

Mortgage companies don’t work out who deserves favours the most and then offer them special discounts. They do what makes sense for them financially. If you’ve owned before and have literally no deposit, you don’t look like you’re worth taking a massive financial risk on.

Exactly. The deposit is to protect them against fluctuations in house prices should they need to take possession and sell the house. Plus there’s other costs involved in doing that.

OP, do you think single people should get more help if they’re parents? I lost my house in the divorce, should I have been given more help buying another house because I was divorced or not because I didn’t have children?

We didn't get any first time buyer deals, we even had to pay stamp duty on our house as it was before they brought in the higher rate and exception for first time buyers.

They have had to bring in more deals to help first time buyers in order to help them get on the property ladder. I would argue that this only helps to push up the cost of housing even more. So maybe if they didn't do this housing prices wouldn't have increased as much. And they are government incentives nothing to do with banks or building societies. So if your looking for support it's the government not the banks.