Would you sell house to pay off debts?

[OscarandTimmy]

Partner is in around £12,000 worth of debt including £4000 with the tax man (he is self employed). I am a SAHM and he earns around £500 a week from his business. I also get £120 a week from an inheritance fund. He is terrible with money, although this comes from his dyslexia - being unable to keep up with paperwork.

I absolutely HATE the house we are living in and have never been happy here. It's getting to the point where it gets me down. I would love somewhere with a garden. We live in central Blackpool at the moment and it is awful.

I am due to go to uni in 2015 and will be a qualified social worker in 2018. I would love to sell the house, use £10,000 to pay off his debts to start afresh, and put the remainder (around £20,000) in a savings account for a deposit on a new house once I am qualified and we have two incomes.

Good idea or not? I personally think its a good idea but I think that is partly because I am so unhappy here.

Worse case scenario but shit does happen. If your partner becomes sick, either of you have an accident and unable to work or if your child has a disability under Universal Credit with 20,000£ in bank you will not be eligible for help. you are above the capital limit for getting Universal Credit which means no child tax credit component, no
housing benefit for help with your rent even if you are on a low inome. You will have to live off that 20000£, it cannot be put aside for future house buying and you may not get back on the housing ladder.