Advice on what to do re our housing situation as we approach retirement.

[Cherubneddy]

I’m 54 and DH is 51. We have my 12 year old DS living with us. We currently rent. Due to previous relationship breakdowns for both of us we are in a precarious financial position. I have a poor credit score ( although it is rebuilding) due to defaulting on debts following financial abuse in my previous marriage.

We hate the lack of security from private renting. We currently pay £950 a month for a 3 bed house in a lovely village, but are aware our landlord could decide to sell up at any point. We’re starting to think about retirement and what our housing/ financial situation will be then.

The one thing we do have in our favour is we are both in full time permanent, stable employment. I have a good local authority pension, DH has a pension too, albeit not as good as mine. We earn approx £82k between us.

Im aware my pension won’t go very far as we’ll need to continue paying rent into our retirement and won’t be eligible for any benefits. We have no savings currently, although I will get a lump sum as part of my pension.

We looked into shared ownership/ right to buy ( if we could manage to get a mortgage with my credit score) but we are over the £80k income threshold, same for renting a housing association house, which would have also given us some security. Because of our ages a mortgage on buying a property outright wouldn’t be affordable as it would need to be over a max of 15 years probably, making the monthly payments too high.

What would you do?

read my follow ups!

Is the £80k threshold for shared ownership before or after pension contributions? Have you double checked what your income is based on your p60s which will likely be excluding pension contributions?

So will he be supporting his uni attending DC at all?

Does he pay maintenance?

Any possibility of increasing incomes then? That few hundred a month could go towards a deposit then mortgage would likely be similar to rent (even with 15-20 year term as rent is always marked up) so it’s pretty much mainly about the deposit.

If kids are in uni they should have grad jobs around the corner.

I’d steer clear of shared ownership though, rent AND mortgage plus liable for all maintenance and repairs even if you own only a fraction. Plus sols fees every time you want to increase your %. I’d rather rent…

Same reason she doesn’t?

🙄

follow up posts

Op, I would try and scrape together a deposit and buy a property. If you are in the North, property prices will be cheaper. You can still get a mortgage despite poor credit rating, although you will pay a slightly higher interest rate, but it might be comparable to your rent payments. If I was in your position, I would try and get on the property ladder, and if the repayments were over 15 years, I’d bite the bullet. I would try and get a slightly bigger house with a spare bedroom - I’d then rent this out under the government’s rent a room scheme which lets you earn £7500 a year tax free. I would then put this money aside to pay a lump sum off the mortgage each year. Over 15 years, this works out at £112,500. Once your son starts his apprenticeship or work, I would ask him to start contributing as well and again use this money to help clear the mortgage. Good luck.

My point is still the same. And it was said ahead of time has a child to support, so does he. If one is due to go to uni, that means they are still youngish, so he will be supporting them.

The op explained why she was in her financial position

I asked why in relation to her partner

so you don’t think relevant if she’d said… oh I don’t know, gambling? Addiction issues?

Also to add, why not chuck your info into a mortgage calculator for an AIP to get an actual answer as to what/if banks would lend to you? I used Santander they are good.

new to mumsnet if you automatically presume anything when it comes to maintenance

Roughly how much debt do you have? Your options are different if it's just a few thousand versus if it's like 20k!

If it's a lower amount, can you get a part time evening/weekend job? Can you use that income to increase your debt repayments? Then once they've been paid, save up for a deposit? Or do half and half where half goes to debt and half goes to savings. It all depends on what debts you have, how much, and the interest rates on the debts.

Then do that asap! That's only 2x your income.

@Cherubneddy I got a 30 year mortgage two years ago in my mid 40s. Definitely speak to a broker because they have access to a range of products and could advise.

In the north you can still buy a 3 bedroom house for less than that! Depends where you are. I downsized last year from a 4 bed terrace in an inner city - nice enough area of the city but not a popular city - sold for £220k. Moved to a lovely village, 2 bed semi with a lovely sized garden, right on the edge so overlooking countryside - £132k. Some of the older semi's around here sell for around £100k.

That said OP - are you sure you won't get an affordable mortgage? If you both have good pension schemes, then look into it - your mortgage can run past "retirement age", you will be able to show that you will have a continuing decent income, and if you are going to throw pension money at rent, why not at a mortgage? My neighbour (single mother) but also LA employee with pension, got a mortgage at 53.

I’d try and buy asap with that joint income . Sit down and make a breakdown of all your outgoings and when your debts will be repaid etc. You haven’t mentioned how much the debts are but hopefully when you’ve got some exact figures you can see a broker. I don’t know anything about house prices where you live but I’m sure if you can get a mortgage approved on that salary , hopefully you can buy somewhere for not much more or even the same as your current rent .
You mentioned your son and his 2 teenagers but then say you’re supporting 4 teenagers - who’s / where is the 4th child?

Yes he will, and yes he pays maintenance for both girls.

I’m not, but I’m also less new to real life, where I know that the majority (yes not all) of men are decent people who would pay maintenance to support their kids, and not refuse to try and screw the mum over.

Repayments on £200k over 20 years should be ballpark 1100-1500 which should be affordable on your income? Mortgage broker appointment time, plus house shopping 🤞🤞
(Hopefully you also receive child maintenance as well as your DH paying it?).

You could look into buying the current property you rent. I think there are providers who can take the rent you've already paid, as a deposit. Disclaimer - a fellow mumsnetter told me this on another thread, and I think it's Skipton Building Society. I haven't actually looked into myself

Hi op,contact Pip Singh. He is a mortgage advisor/broker that specializes in helping people with credit issues etc.
www.adverseguru.co.uk
If you join the Facebook group below and search his name you can see how many people he has helped and how happy they have been with his services .
www.facebook.com/groups/162502548973990/

Sheltered accommodation, for age over 50’s, might work for you. Secure tenancy and reasonable rent. Your local council will be able to advise you.

This is do helpful, thank you, I will!

Thanks so much everyone. I had kind of presumed that a mortgage was out of the question due to my credit history. Debts are awful, over £20k so will take a while to pay off. Any spare money/ windfalls I use towards them and make settlement offers when But I will see if there’s anything to be done re a mortgage.

to answer the question about the 4th child, I also have a teenage DD who lives with her dad currently. So I don’t receive or pay any child maintenance as we have one each, although she still costs me a fortune in phones, clothes, make up etc etc as teenagers do!