All my money is in my house and I can't sell it

[Lucyweeks]

I have been trying to sell for six months. The building society has been awful. No repayment holiday, no interest only.
I have been seriously ill and will not be able to return to full time work.
The estate agent has told me I'm not going to sell until the autumn as only the big houses (£1.5m+) are selling in our neck of the woods due to our famous school. The building society won't wait.
If I reduce again I have no equity and nothing to rent with. I'd have to borrow off family to pay removal costs. I'm too old to start again. How can I stop them taking the house from me?

UC do 6 months interest mortage payments but you have to repay, is that an option?

They won't accept interest only. I've had to pay the full payment since January and I can't do it going forward.

It's a big modern house and they are just not selling. We also have new builds near us with incentives.

Who is the building society? They should be helping and offering a payment holiday or some other form of assistance while you sell. I would ask to complain and hopefully you get somwhere.

Unfortunately if it’s really not selling you will have to drop the price. Can you speak to shelter for some advice about what you can do once your home is sold if you can’t rent somewhere privately?

I have complained.

We have two others houses for sale on our development. Same size, same price. They haven't sold either. One was reduced two weeks ago and still not sold.

If you drop and lose the equity and have no funds to rent/live, you could go to the council. If your single with health problems they will give you one of the bungalows they keep aside for people with health problems, may be a wait in temp housing but they will house you.

I'm not single. I also have a autistic DD who lives with us. My partner doesn't own the house.

Houses over £1m do seem to be selling more slowly as the effects of higher stamp duty continue to put people off moving, but it’s also the case that the main reason for somewhere not to sell is price.

Would you be willing to post a link to the listing so people can give advice to give you the best chance of catching a buyer’s eye?

Can you rent out your house to cover the mortgage and rent somewhere cheaper / move in with family until the market picks up

Which BS is it? Dont be afraid to mention them here. They are obliged to help you, its a mandatory requirement that they allow you to move to I/O without a capital payment means in place for a limited time. They are also obliged to let you extend the term. Act now and make a complaint so that you can escalate to FOS if required. I work in FS specifically in this area and i know this yo be the case.

They should also be offering you extra assistance as you have circumstances that make you vulnerable as a carer for a child who has autism and as someone who is ill and unable to work full time

Oh thank you @Dubonet. I had some advice from the law centre and a company called HMS but it's seems the BS is ignoring everyone. It's the Cumberland.

My mortgage is so high as it was a ten year term due to age. If it was a twenty year (which they now offer, but not to me!) I could afford it. Their beef is I've been ill for over a year ( sorry about that but my last chemotherapy was January). I am getting better but I will always use a mobility aid and that means certain jobs are out for me.

Can you get a couple of lodgers in or do air B n B? Not ideal but needs must and it would bring in immediate income.

What a difficult situation to be in OP, sorry you are dealing with this.

Presumably you have explored every benefit going? Been to CAB?

As your house is big would renting it out give you enough to pay the mortgage and rent somewhere v small?

Lodgers?

Lodgers no due to DD autism.

Renting it would cover the interest only. So not possible

What will happen if you only pay what you can afford to the BS? There are new rules, they aren’t allowed to just reposes your home.

I think that unfortunately your only options are to wait and hope not to be evicted before it sells or to drop the price to the level that it sells sooner.

It’s not a quick process to repossess a property and if you are still paying something the courts may well tell the lender to give you more time.

Have you anything you can sell to help in the short-term, and us there any way for your partner to take on a second job or more hours at work?

Could your partner not pay towards it?

Is your partner helping as much as possible financially?
Can family bail you out?

My partner does pay. He works 60 hours so he can't do more. When I took the mortgage out it was a third of my salary. I had a huge job. My last employer went bankrupt after I bought the house. I used my savings and a pension to pay until last year. The house had a buyer last year but he disappeared as he wanted to turn it into a hmo.

I usually bail my family out!

Too much information, OP. It's possibly unlikely your stalker will see your post, but it's not hard to work out your location.