What mortgage repayment do you think I can afford?

[yoursweetpotatoesarebland]

Just post divorce and looking to buy a new property and wondering what kind of mortgage would be affordable. I’m really downsizing from our family home and obviously buying on one income so I’m just not sure what is sensible.

My income is:
£2600 net pay
£252 child benefit
£1200 child maintenance

The child maintenance I feel very vulnerable about as my ex husband is a real arse (think fully contested final divorce hearing, hiding money and assets, being hugely financially abusive etc). He pays nothing towards the kids (x3) costs at all and if he reduces the payment he won’t contribute otherwise. It’s obviously a huge part of my income at the moment but is it wise to rely on it? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve not really got any finance or major costs (a small car loan of £233 a month but only 6 payments left on it so likely finished shortly after a house completes).
My salary will go up 16k (gross) in 3-4 years which should make up the loss of child maintenance as the kids get older.

The house I want would require a 1k a month mortgage payment. It’s a beautiful house but I’ve spent the last few years under incredible stress especially about money and I don’t want to put myself in a vulnerable position. My kids are getting older anyway (10, 12, 15) so maybe it’s not needed? Help - is that affordable?

Without knowing your other expenditure it would be hard to give a solid opinion. How much are your bills? Do the children go to any clubs etc.

All I would say is that if you can’t fully rely on the money from child maintenance given your ex being an arse, don’t include it in any financial plans.

I thought about including bills but would be for my current house so I wasn’t sure how relevant that would be as our house is quite a bit bigger than what I’ll be buying.

i wrote out my current expenditure but obviously a bit subject to change:

Ct - 175
G and e - 250

Water - 35
Broadband: £15
Car tax, insurance, mot and service, breakdown cover - 75
House insurance - 10
Food - 400
Diesel - 200
Mobiles £21
Piano lessons £110
Guitar lessons £100
drama club £30

that’s my basic costs - I haven’t hugely kept track of what I spend on other stuff, uniforms, trips etc. Life has been so overwhelmingly hard I’ve just been surviving so no energy for anything else. Plus after years of financial control I feel a bit uncertain. I’d be really interested to know how other people would apportion that income and what would feel comfortable for a mortgage payment

Sorry to hear about the financial control, I can understand why everything might seem uncertain and challenging at the moment.

i think you probably need to get everything down including any extras you haven’t been tracking and have a chat with a mortgage advisor etc. it seems affordable without taking the maintenance into consideration, providing the extras aren’t too much.

I think the general rule used to be that you should/could spend 1/3 of your household income on housing which at £1000 a month is pretty much there (no child maintenance).

I think you've missed some expenditure off, hair cuts, breakdown insurance, birthday /xmas presents, goods replacement, holiday/day out savings, subscriptions, new clothes/shoes/uniform, tv license etc. There's a good statement in money saving expert where you can list every bit of expenditure and this will help you to work out what you can really afford.

If ds is an arse (sounds like he is) then take the maintenance out of the equation for now. £1K mortgage sounds tight but if you get a pay rise in a few years it may be do-able.

It would be quite tight without the child maintenance but quite affordable with it. I think it depends on how reliable your ex is about payimng the cm.

Hey , mortgage broker here .

Could you go for a longer term and they over pay . That way if he stops paying you have some flexibility. Xx