Would you continue to commute to same schools after moving?

[DarkDaysHopefullyOver]

Apologies if this post is a bit frantic, I am completely distraught and really need some sound advice.

Its me, my sons (8&13), and our beautiful 4 year old dog. We will be homeless from this Friday, and the place I have to go is my Mother's, our relationship is tense, she is stressed and her house is tiny and there absolutely isn't enough space for us, im also not to bring our dog. We are currently renting in a flat in a city and I am currently commuting though heavy traffic daily, about 15 hours a week. Council have said I am making us voluntarily homeless so no access to emergency housing. The boys are unhappy, we left our beloved rental home of 9 years which was perfect after I was told it would be sold, and then I panicked. We have been in the city for 6 months.

I am looking to buy, I have gone through the process for the last 4 months with a broker after I had an offer accepted and told all will be fine. But last week the lender came back with maximum lend 40k short of mortgage in principle, 23k shortfall of what I need to buy the house. I absolutely have not got this money. We will have to move at least 40 mins away to be able to afford something, I have looked and viewed houses within my new budget this weekend and they are unsuitable and require lots of work, contractors and council are also buying back. I was extremely lucky to be accepted on the house in the first place. I don't stand a chance in new budget.

My question is, would it be unreasonable of me to keep my sons at their schools? With around a 40 minute commute one way? They haven't moved before, my eldest has a football club he adores and is in his second year at HS, my youngest has additional need and I have a close relationship with his primary school. I hate myself for failing them, I don't care about myself, I just want them to be settled.

I currently work from home 3 days, office 2 days in the city We currently live in. But I thought I could make it work by finding a Job closer to their schools and I just won't go home? Easier said than done as I have to work around school hours for my youngest.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what the last few months have been like, I feel like I can't function anymore, I don't feel like im here and my whole body aches.

How are you planning to get them there? If you're WFH, when it's 40 minutes one way, that's 160 minutes per day for you to drive there, back, there, back. How much work will you be able to get done around that? That's almost 3 hours of travelling eating into your day. If you can find a job nearer to their schools, that's still 80 minutes per day just gone on sitting in a car.

I used to drive DH to work that far at school times and the 40 minutes easily turned into 60 on a bad day, losing me a clean 4 hours a day. I got exceptionally frustrated and it's the only time in my life when I've actually not wanted to drive the car anymore (and I love driving) which is why I'm suggesting caution here.

Personally, I'd only do a school run that long if I didn't have any other options (or maybe if the only option was in special measures).

If the stay at your mothers is meant to be temporary, I would try to only move schools once you get to your more settled home.

if you are looking at changing jobs anyway, can you look for housing and work very far afield?