Help! Is there anything I can do about my mortgage?

[Rainbow28x]

Long story short, we moved into our first home and did a two year fix which ended the beginning of the year. At the time we couldn't renew as I wasn't working, due to maternity leave ending and me being pregnant with my second (so I chose to leave work instead of going back as I couldn't afford childcare either)

With the cost of living increasing, our mortgage is an extra £350 a month that it was at the beginning of the year. My second baby is a few months old and because we were struggling for money I took the maternity allowance as soon as I was entitled. This is ending in January and my partners wage won't cover just the bills anymore and I just don't know what to do! Is there anything I can do about my mortgage or are we truly stuck until interest rates start decreasing again?

Many thanks x

What is household income with partners job

your set up is rarer as usually men work days and people say to get a evening job for mum

so as he works nights maybe you need to look for morning job

whether cleaning or stacking shelves - working in cafe etx

mortgages rates were always going to go up as been low for so long

either way you need more income so need to find a job

@socialgoat Worse advice ever.

How so?
It is the most financially advantageous plan of action, by quite a large margin - and the OP is asking for financial advice....

Energy bills for 2 properties
Council tax for 2 properties
Food/store cupboard supplies for 2 properties
Rent/mortgage
Deposit for 2nd property
Furniture for 2 properties
An incoming payment from husband to cover mortgage will vastly reduce any benefits OP would be entitled to.

They are already struggling with one wage and one house!

Increasing wages and reducing outgoings is the obvious answer which means OP needs to work ( even if it's temporarily) to get out of their rough spot

Council tax and energy bills are almost always inclusive if renting a single room, so no extra payments needed.

Also many rooms to rent require only a one week's deposit.
Most single rooms are fully furnished.

Child Maintenance payments are completely disregarded as income for claiming UC and will not have any affect at all on the entitlement. OP would receive both.
Mortgage payments will have no effect on benefit payment provided it is paid direct to the mortgage lender.

Anything else?

I calculate the OP would be about £800 - £1100 per month better off with the advice I have given.

In your position I would look for anything which could bring a little extra money in with no childcare costs.

So work round your partners shifts / work from home and ask your mum to come over to help with kids / wfh flexible hours and work once kids in bed etc etc.

There are also some no work income options like renting your driveway out which would be worth a think, and things like surveys which pay really badly but you can easily do with the kids around

You really don’t need to be on the standard variable rate. You could have swapped to a new fixed rate with your current provider in the run up to your previous fixed rate ending and would now be on a much lower rate. Contact them ASAP as you should still be able to get a lower rate than the standard variable.

If you were just changing to another rate they shouldn't have needed to ask any questions about finance. Ours just moved us to the new rate ?

Speak to your bank about extending the term of your mortgage until you are 67. That way you pay less each month. You will pay more interest overall but once you are working you can overpay and clear it quicker.

You should be able to switch to a tracker for now which is lower than svr. No credit checks if you stay with your current provider. Look online or call them, super easy. Then when rates come down again consider fixing for a longer term.

I also think you need to work with your mortgage provider and look at what work you can now do when your partner is home, it’s hard but it’s better than loosing your home

Oh crap. You really need to take proper advice OP. You’ve made some daft decisions which have cost you. You should have saved more money before having children, you should have transferred to a new rate not gone on the svr, you should have fixed back then for 5 years.

Also if your bank aren’t accommodating- speak to a mortgage broker. I recommend London and County (they’re free). If anyone can get you a great mortgage, they can.

@seekingasimplelife There is nothing illegal or against benefit rules in following this course of action, provided you genuinely maintain two separate households.

So you are advising OP to genuinely split with her partner? Or are you really saying maintain the notion of living apart when in fact OP and partner will probably still live together?

I think both are bad advice and one is verging on fraud.

OP have you checked you aren’t eligible for any UC at the moment. Depending on your overall household income you may be entitled to a bit even before your MA ends.
I’m not talking about playing the system in the way @seekingasimplelife suggests. It wouldn’t be right to claim as a single person while maintaining a relationship, and presumably you don’t want to split up, but if your household income is below the threshold you may be entitled to some support for childcare costs to enable you to work, or even basic top ups.

Also, speak to your bank. If this is a short term situation, can you take a mortgage break for a few months?

I think you are somewhat confused about the rules regarding this.

I am advising the OP to genuinely separate her household from that of her partner, not her relationship to him.
This is all that is required to make a genuine claim for UC and other associated benefits for a one parent household. There is no fraud involved at all, and financial hardship is a valid reason for this (in fact no reason at all is required).

There is no requirement for her not to have a relationship with anyone who is living outside her home, nor anything to prevent a live-out partner visiting during the day, helping jointly with the children in the home, eating meals when visiting or staying overnight occasionally. It is by no means fraudulent or attempting to be.

Here straight from the government website:
Definition of a couple
The Department for Work and Pensions counts 2 people as being in a couple if they live in the same household and are:
married to each other
civil partners of each other
living together as if they were married

The rules regarding UC and Child maintenance are published on the government website and it is very clear it is disregarded as income.

I can assure you it is very sound financial advice, and will substantially increase the OP's income, (even taking into account the cost of her partner renting a room in a separate house); and put both of them in a much more stable and robust financial position going forward. In addition the OP can continue with her maternity leave for up to three years should she wish to, without any loss of benefits or conditionally on returning to work in the meantime.

Once she is on a more stable financial footing after that time, there is no reason her partner can't return to the family home and continue as before. Absolutely nothing fraudulent or illegal in this scenario.

As I said in my previous post - there is every right to claim as a single person whilst maintaining a relationship, provided you are genuinely maintaining two separate households. There is no 'playing the system' involved - it is a straightforward outline of the government's own clear and considered legislative rules on who is entitled to claim UC, and under what circumstances. This is such circumstances. It is sound financial advice.

The low rates of interest have been an aberration and I wouldn't be expecting them to come down any time soon. If you were as old as me, you'd remember paying interest at 15% on a mortgage (and that was with an impeccable credit rating). I think you have to cut back massively on everything and maybe one of you gets another job in the evenings or at the weekend.

As long as you have stayed with your existing lender and you do not borrow more money, or have missed any mortgage payments they would have allowed you to remortgage without any affordability checks. All they ask if your salary’s are still the same and you say yes. ( even though your circumstances have changed)
Phone you lender about a remortgage ASAP, better still speak to a mortgage broker, make sure the broker does not charge fees for your remortgage, the bank will pay him a fee for him bringing your business to them.
Wish you had done it when your last fixed rate ended, it’s cost you thousands already, and the interest rates have now increased substantially. Take care.

I find it baffling that posters will advise profusely on claiming UC, childcare vouchers, and any other convoluted ways of claiming benefits to facilitate a return to work and contract out their childcare to a third party from a few months of age; whilst dismissing the obvious financial and practical option - (to separate households and enable a mother to care full time for her own babies if she so wishes) - as morally dubious or fraudulent. It is neither. And the effect on the public purse is probably about the same.

But they won’t actually be better off! OP is currently claiming maternity allowance, which would reduce any UC payment she received as a single parent. She’d be eligible for around £150 a month in top of her MA. They have a mortgage, so no help with housing costs until she’s claimed for 9 months, by which time their situation will have changed.
There’s no way her DH could rent a place for less than £150pm including all bills. Not to mention the disruption.

I'm pretty sure you can just switch your product if it's coming to an end. I've always done it online with nationwide with no affordability checks or any requirements.

Definitely give the mortgage provider a call and ask about changing to a new fixed rate. It should be lower than the 6.5% that you're now paying.

@TheSausageKingofChicago The OP is specifically talking about January when her MA ends and she will get nothing.

Splitting households would enable her to claim the full UC rate for herself and 2 children and
Healthy start vouchers
Substantial rebate on Council tax
Warm Home Grant for her energy bills - also energy support looking ahead is likely to be more targeted,
NHS low income scheme,
Social internet tariff
Possibly still eligible for a maternity grant of up to £500
Free childcare hours for her eldest at 2 years old
Many other smaller benefits associated with her claim, including updating her job skills and training.

Please please re-mortgage with your existing lender NOW, Just tick the box to say you circumstances have not changed.

You have spent hundreds on your existing SVR mortgage unnecessarily.

Remortgage NOW.

No idea why you have volunteered to pay much more on your SVR rather than getting another product with the same provider, as you don't have to go through the affordability tests, but that is still your best bet.

With regards to splitting the family unit up, you would need to be careful. It's not enough to simply rent another property

My parents drilled into their experience of having young children and their mortgage going up to 12.5%. You need to always leave wiggle room in your budget to allow for cost of living increases and and a back up plan for economic crisis.