Do you get less help as a single mum with a mortgage?

[pennylee]

I am just about to take on a mortgage which will be cheaper monthly than paying rent. I have no idea what help I will get and after going from site to site with endless benefits calculators, I'm still non the wiser. So far I understand I'll get maternity pay (£126) and Child Benefit (£20) my mortgage will be £160 (this is obviously all per week) This is without food and bills. Do I need to withdraw my application fast? I'm white as a sheet with stress. (19 weeks pregnant and now single)

How long will you be off work and on maternity leave pennylee?

Are you sure your mortgage application will even be successful? You have less income than the monthly payment from what you have said - it would be against the FSA rules for the lender to allow that nowadays. They have a responsibility to ensure a borrower can afford to live & pay the mortgage. At least at the start - obviously anything can happen circumstances wise later on!

Unless you have another source of income you haven't mentioned?

Thanks guys (by the way) I think I need Paracetamol and a lay down x

If you take a years mat leave, you should be able to claim benefits after your mat pay ends if my memory is correct. You would be better off renting with little or no savings though and I think that it's no longer £16k savings now, but something like 6 or 8k...
You have a qualifying period when you have a mortgage. For me it was 6 months, but it was brought down to 3 when so many people were losing their jobs.
I saved up every penny I could until I started mat leave ~ so about 6 months...I wanted to make sure I could pay my mortgage for my years mat leave at least.

Oh yes, and the mortgage relief is very little. On a £500 monthly payment, I get about £100 pcm and don't have enough money to cover the remainder and I'm not buying nappies anymore. It's really not that easy.

'Sounds like I need to rent until I go back to work (after maternity leave) and then I'll be financially secure to pay for a mortgage. This sucks!'

Yes. Because you must declare any savings or assets you have on all benefits applications except those which are not means-tested. And the threshhold for qualifying for HB is far lower than £16K worth of savings in many councils, so you may not qualify for it at all.

The logic is that benefits are a safety net for people who have nothing, not a means of asset preservation or enhancement.

well it's £16,000 where I live, and when we, as mortgage payers, applied for council tax benefit, they took into account £3,000 savings we did have (which we don't have any more as they have paid the mortgage for five months!) when I queried the unfairness they just shrugged!

It's £6K and £8K in some councils.

still more than our measly £3K which stopped us from even getting £! off our £150 pcm ct bill.

£1 I mean!

It would not enter my head to ask the state to help me to buy a house, there is nothing wrong with renting, it is what most of us do.

And the fact is that most people get more help if they rent.

I've got a mortgage, but I also need a new flat roof, total rewire (dangerous almost 60 year old electrics), damp, plumbing problems...and no one to put it right except me.

What about the father? Why are fathers not expected to support their children financially in this country?

Hmm I wondered that too!

"Sounds like I need to rent until I go back to work (after maternity leave) and then I'll be financially secure to pay for a mortgage. This sucks!"

Welcome to real life love. Many single mums, like me, work full time in order to finance their cost of living, mortgage included. There's a rebate on the council tax for single adult occupancy and, if your income is in the right range, you may qualify for WTC and CTC. CB is available as well until 2013 at least, assuming you're not in the higher rate tax band. It's called being independent.... enjoy!!

"Sounds like I need to rent until I go back to work (after maternity leave) and then I'll be financially secure to pay for a mortgage."

I would never ever condone this sort of idea, but to be honest, it's hardly surprising that people feel this way - why bother working and paying your way - it simply does not pay!

Oh, and twinklypearls it never entered our heads to try and get the 'state' to help us buy our house, a short stop gap would have been appreciated though, as we are leaving social housing to those who need it!

What do you mean 'why bother working and paying your eay'??

What help do you expect? You've worked yes, what's on offer Help wise is the basics. What everyone gets. Are you saying there should be special, extra help reserved for those who have worked???

Why are fathers not expected to contribute financially to their children in this country? Why is the state always the first port of call for 'help'?

Suppose the house is also for op so not the fathers full responsibility here.

Yes, I realise that, but right away, it was a case of her going to benefits calculators to see what she would get. It seems men can go about fathering children and not being in any way financially responsible for them here.

It's not criticism, it's a question.

What is 'parental maintenence'?