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Lone parents

Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

Original poster

housing thoughts/worries...

34 replies

RussianBlu · 05/04/2014 22:52

Just wondering if anyone is in a situation where they are working (or perhaps not) and paying rent but also getting help towards it. If you have children do you think about or have any plan of where you would live once they become too old for you to get child tax credits and part of your rent covered? I think I am mainly asking lone parents with children who live in private rented (and fairly expensive) homes who don't earn a huge amount of money because I imagine this will affect them more than others, though I could be wrong!

Thanks for your time.

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DontCareAboutYourShoes · 06/04/2014 02:28

I try not to think about it to be honest. It's too stressful as it is financially at the moment that if I tho

DontCareAboutYourShoes · 06/04/2014 02:29

*if I thought about that too, I'd give up.

Original poster
RussianBlu · 06/04/2014 14:02

:) creeps in to your mind sometimes though doesn't it (generally when you are trying very hard to sleep but just cant) then all the pens and paper come out as you try very hard to work out your incomings and outgoings and how the heck you are going to survive in a few years time.

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3DcAndMe · 06/04/2014 14:04

If my children were that age I would expect them to contribute!

Mrsrochesterscat · 06/04/2014 14:13

Yes very much so! The worry is crippling!

I have changed jobs to one where I have a better path for progression, so I hope I will be better off financially in a couple of years time. And I have already realised there will be a point where I will have to live like a student and either share my house, or move to and take a room in another shared house - which is very sad, because it means my children will not have a home with me where they can retreat to as adults (eg marriage breakdown).

Original poster
RussianBlu · 06/04/2014 15:25

Expecting children to contribute is fine but Im not sure they would earn enough straight out of school to be able to contribute enough to make it viable! I also feel like we would pretty much have to leave and either go into shared accommodation with others , rent a studio flat (!) or move to a totally new area, try and find a new job and start all over again. Like someone said earlier, its so stressful to think about it you just bury your head in the sand.

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littlemisssarcastic · 06/04/2014 15:26

Not all to do with housing, but when DS finished his college course, my income reduced by more than £150 a week to £230 a week (including £30 per week WTC and housing benefit).
I was working full time in a MW job, but paying everything out of £230 a week was impossible and I got into debt.
I couldn't have asked DS to contribute £150 a week because apart from the fact that he couldn't afford it, it wouldn't have been fair to leave him with nothing for working full time, and he was one of the lucky ones who walked straight into a full time job from college.

Original poster
RussianBlu · 06/04/2014 15:33

Im sorry to hear that littlemisssarcastic. How did you solve the problem in the end if you don't mind me asking? I wonder how many people are actually in this situation. Sigh.

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littlemisssarcastic · 06/04/2014 16:42

My situation changed when I had my DD. So not really a solution to the problem as such but that is how my situation changed.
Sorry, not much help to others.

If I hadn't had DD, I would have had no other choice but to find part time work alongside my full time job and work every waking hour.

I think that is what this govt expect you to do in that situation tbh. Once your DC are adults, the only solution imo is to work as many hours as possible. Not just full time, but 60+ hours a week.

It's the only way I would've been able to survive, obviously depending on being able to find enough work to do.

legohouse · 06/04/2014 18:41

This is a big part of my worries, i am self employed,earn a small wage and get help with my rent and tax credits (only child tax credits as not working enough hours to claim working tax credits) I do worry about the future...i guess as they get older i will be able to take on more hours but my job is physical and i can only hope i remain in good health so i can continue to to it.

Original poster
RussianBlu · 06/04/2014 20:32

Hi Legohouse, yes that is a worry. How exactly will we still be able to do our jobs when we are 66?? I agree that the only solution is to take on more work but can you imagine being 60 and working your main job say 8 til 4 then going on to an evening job and then working all weekend too??? And what extra jobs are we going to be able to take on come to think of it? Every time I look at moving somewhere else where rent is more affordable I have the issue of lack of jobs and any jobs in such areas seem to pay a lot less that what I get now. So basically whatever you do, you are stuck. Plus moving to a new area means upheaval for children and so on. I would hate to do that. I went through it myself when I was younger and it wasn't much fun!

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littlemisssarcastic · 06/04/2014 20:54

It is a bleak future indeed for many many people, myself included.

I do sometimes wonder what will happen to the millions of people who don't earn a living wage when prices just seem to rise and rise yet wages remain stagnant. Added to the worry that the state pension age is steadily increasing so we will all be working for longer.
FWIW, I'm not expecting to ever qualify for a state pension. Before I am 68, I will have to be older again to get a pension.
An increase of a few pence an hour on NMW just isn't the answer, but it is a huge problem and as such, I wonder what will happen.

Can the govt really ignore the plight of millions and millions of people?

Original poster
RussianBlu · 06/04/2014 21:09

It seems to be something that is never mentioned in the news, what will happen to the people who live in areas where rent is high and need so much help with it that when it is taken away (because their children become a certain age) that they cant afford to rent the property they live in now? Does the parent take their children off to a studio flat where they can just about manage the rent? Even studio flats have silly rents in my area. The answer to just move to a cheaper area isn't really helpful either. As I have said before, it tends to mean less jobs and jobs with low wages. It just feels like being caught in a Catch 22 situation. It would also mean a lot of people being isolated. Having to literally stick their finger on a place on the map and move there, not knowing anyone or anything about the area.

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doublethedifference · 06/04/2014 22:27

I retrained when dd was small so I expect to be earning enough to come off tax credits in a few years. I'm relieved now that I made the choice to go to university when she was small, as it was manageable in the school years and it's making a difference to my earning power now. As I have just the one dd, losing tax credits/child benefit won't make such a huge dent in my income as it would if I had 3 children. We are in council housing now but I hope to be able to buy my flat in a few years as there is a decent discount here.

I know parents of adult children who have moved to studio flats or even house shares due to the loss of tax credits/child benefit. You would get the same help as any other single childless adult over 35, which isn't very much unless you have disabilities.

littlemisssarcastic · 07/04/2014 00:11

What did you retrain as doublethedifference if you don't mind me asking?
It's the people who will probably always be on NMW who I really feel for.
There is scant little help for adults without DC. Sad
More definitely needs to be done.

sezamcgregor · 07/04/2014 11:45

We're going to have to do the same as my mum is now - work every hour God sends to pay the rent and perhaps have enough left over for food.

She doesn't want to compromise on her (2 bedroomed) house with garden - although realistically, she could downsize or find a couple of like-minded people to house-share with. Though she's lived on her own too long and now enjoys having a whole house to herself.

StormyBrid · 07/04/2014 11:53

My plan is simply to work full-time. Lucky to live somewhere cheap (rent + bills comes in at around £600 a month). Bugger all jobs here though. But as I've a 50/50 chance of having inherited a condition that means I'll end up in a care home by fifty five, I'm not too worried, because what is the point in worrying when you're doomed anyway?

Original poster
RussianBlu · 07/04/2014 11:58

If I lived somewhere and paid £600 a month inc bills I could manage working as I do now but as you say, there are lack of jobs. I would be lucky to get a room share in a house for that here. Its complete madness.

Has anyone looked into the part buy part rent schemes that are meant to be affordable for those on a low income? How is earning £47k a year to be able to part own 1 bed flat affordable?!?!?!?!?!

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doublethedifference · 07/04/2014 22:25

Not at all littlemisssarcastic. I studied Maths and now work in software engineering. I was on NMW before I had dd then had to go on benefits while she was young, so I know how things would have been like if I hadn't returned to study. It's really worth looking into the options if you can, there was actually a lot of financial support while I was at university (more than I got on benefits).

littlemisssarcastic · 07/04/2014 22:31

That's interesting doublethedifference.

Would I contact my local job centre for more information or my local college?

doublethedifference · 08/04/2014 00:04

Jobcentres have poor understanding of student finance ime. College student services are best, my uni produced a lot of useful factsheets for student parents.

MrsRebeccaDanvers · 08/04/2014 10:32

Am very worried about this too and think that lone mothers of grown up DC will probably end up in shared accommodation if they're in the private rental sector. Cannot believe how bad the standard of living has dropped for everyone in the last ten years. It feels like we're going back to the Victorian age when poverty was almost impossible to escape unless you were born into a family with money.

Original poster
RussianBlu · 08/04/2014 11:54

I agree entirely MrsRebeccaDanvers.

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StormyBrid · 08/04/2014 13:01

One other possible escape: dead parents leave houses in wills. Unfortunately, mine had three kids, not just me, so come the time I'll be able to spend my inheritance on one third of a house. Doomed.

WheresRyder · 08/04/2014 13:06

I currently manage to pay my own rent as combined with my wages and money from xh I earn too much for ctc/hb etc. but when the dc reach 18 the money from xh will stop and that currently pays my rent. I will have to downsize from 3 bed to 2 bed and maybe even a 1 bed with me sleeping in the lounge on a sofa bed.

It may be that I can afford to buy once I only need a one or two bed, I have a nest egg from my share of equity from the married property and might have had some inheritance by then but that's an awful thought.