Why is renting so ridiculously stupidly high???

[firsttimemum1403]

Hi all,

Wondering what people are doing with regards to their living situations ?? Not to be nosy just looking for a glimmer of hope or that I'm not being ridiculous !

I just gave birth and my dd is now 10 weeks old. I was made redundant before Corona happened so I am only entitled to maternity allowance so am currently getting £600 a month (should be getting child benefit but because of Corona my baby hasn't actually been registered yet and with no registration no CB) my partner does work but hes salary isn't massive, about £1500 a month after tax.

We are currently living in the south west (and moving isn't an option as all our family is here and partner has a good job he doesn't want to leave thats here) but the cost of living here is crippling. We are living with his parents pre-corona (because I was made redundant and could no longer afford rent on our previous place) and have been here since Feb. They don't mind us living with them thank god but we can't live here forever!

Rent for a 2 bed is around the £900 pcm mark and that is for a small two bed or a poor condition/poor quality 2 bed. Any properties which are decent for around that amount are being snatched up before we can even ask for a viewing because Corona has prevented people from moving for 4/5 months it's now like the flood gates have opened and people are starting bidding wars on property rent to move.

Has anyone faced similar? Know any possible solutions? Going more than £900 isn't feasible because of our bills and needs (and even £900 is over budget !)

Thank you in advance (:

Sacrifice socials, IT, buying material goods, holidays and extravagances to get the cash together to buy. Live modestly. What can you cut back on? What is essential outgoing?

After giving parents rent and buying food could you save 1k a month? If you work part time you could bring that to 1:5k savings a month. In 20 months (by April 2022 you’d have 30k deposit for a house

I'm not sure you'd stand in great stead for a mortgage if the deposit was borrowed/gifted from family tbh? I don't think providers are keen to loan these days if you can't show that you've saved the deposit yourself? Fully willing to be informed I'm wrong? But I think it's based on showing you have the financial capacity yourself to get the money saved vs family providing it and you could be classed as higher risk as not demonstrating you can generate the funds yourself? Does your area offer any rent to buy properties as a first time buyer? That may be an option avaliable to you?

If you're in the position to be 'gifted' the deposit by family you could have the paperwork drawn up to prove you're not going to be in debt with repayments, or have the loan recalled suddenly. I guess you could potentially circumnavigate that by having the money 'gifted', and then repaying via a private family agreement between yourselves? Which is pretty dodgy, and especially if you can't promise family you'll have the money they've essentially legally signed over with no future recall. But if its the only option avaliable to you? Other than that it's a renters market? They can set the rate they choose because that's the going market rate.

Hey hun so sorry about your situation
But you can still apply for child benefit I have with my ds who is 2 months and his not registered either

I'm a single mum and I manage to rent OK, I work full time, I don't claim universal credit for housing, I get the childcare element.. I had to leave my ex partners house based in Kent, I've moved to an area that's absolutely lovely and still within reach of family and friends but far enough from him.. I pay £800 a month in rent for a lovely two bed house it's extremely spacious and I have a big garden, it was an extremely rare property and was a property that came back on the market after it fell through for someone else.. You sound like you just need one of those gem type properties to come up, you just have to keep looking on right move every day, I was on there ten times a day... You could possibly get a mortgage with a guarantor also.. A friend of mine did this, she had a ccj that had one year left on her credit file, her partner has a 999 credit score but they were accepted for a mortgage with a guarantor.