Am I entitled to any financial/housing help if I am pregnant and married with a mortgage in my name?

[MrsFrederick25]

I wonder if anyone can help with my housing dilemma?

Five years ago my mum wanted to buy a house but was not eligible for a mortage on her income alone, so we put my name on the application just so that she would be accepted. She has since bought a house with her partner that she now lives in.

I have never benefited financially from the flat we bought but it has never been an issue, my mum has just rented it out since she moved. I am now pregnant and extremely worried as I can't afford to rent privately and I don't seem to be entitled to any help with housing as long as my name is on that bloody mortgage. What am I to do? My husband and I are on low incomes and are effectively about to become homeless with a baby but on paper it looks ridiculous asking for help when I have a mortgage. We have moved into mums flat for now whilst we consider our options but i'm unsure whether we have any. I hate living there. I'ts old and damp and in a horrible area. We've tried everything to make it homely but I just hate it and want out asap. Do not want to bring a baby home to this :(

What can we do? Even if the house gets sold will we be entitled to any help at all? Would a housing association even consider us? Could we look into shared ownership although I have a property?

Please help, waaay too stressed for a pregnant lady!

Is living in the house you have the mortgage for not an option? You will struggle to access any social housing I think. Housing associations tend to get their nominations for their vacant properties from local authorities, so you would need to be on your council waiting list in the first place. Have you spoken to your local housing department to find out where you stand?

we've just moved in to the flat we own a couple of weeks ago and I hate it. I don't want to be in the area and the flat itself is so run down. I know i'm probably feeling extra vulnerable due to the pregnancy but I really feel an overwhelming desire to get the hell outa there!

I've spoken to my mum and she's agreed to sell the place, but we will still have to live in it whilst essential work is carried out and then of course until it's sold.

I'm just scared that we have very few options. Even if this flat is sold and I am free of the burden of the mortgage, what will we do next? I'm so anxious about providing a home for my baby and it's really stressing me out. My husband thinks I am being unreasonable and we should just try to stay where we are. He just does not understand the extent to which I can't bear to be there.

aaaaaargh!!!

I think it depends how much equity you have in the property

Once the house is sold you might be entitled to some housing bennefit -dependant on your incomes (I'm sure there are websites that can tell you what you're entitled to). You could use that to help pay the rent on somewhere you'd be happier living? Alternatively have you looked into the new govermnet help to buy thing or into shared ownership?

You're not being unreasonable, I think everyone has an image of the nice cosy home they will take their newborn home to and its not nice if you can't make that a reality. What exactly is wrong with the flat, is it anything you could potentially change or improve?

I'm actually shocked by my hatred of the flat as I lived there whilst at uni and I loved it. I wonder whether it's some strange side affect of pregnancy that has made the place unbearable to me? It's the smells mostly and I feel like my morning sickness is 10x worse when i'm there. I actually dread going home from work every day which is crazy as i'm such a homely person usually. I so looked forward to moving in with my husband and now that we have I just want out! wish we'd stayed at my parents. My hubby has tried everything to make it better but I just don't feel it is a suitable environment for me, him or baby. one of the bedrooms is so damp it's completely out of bounds and I would never put my baby in there despite any work that can/will be done to improve it. I can smell damp throughout the flat although my hubby can't. My sense of smell has gone crazy, I can smell everything from a mile off and every smell makes me sick. Keep getting a whiff of damp and puking, it's miserable.

I have invested next to nothing in the house and don't even know very much about the property market. Just know I want out and I need to find some kind of alternative asap!

I think you look for totally different things in a house as a student than when you are expecting a baby and want a 'home', so don't think you're being silly. Its horrible to hate where you live and not want to go home :(

Why don't you have a look on here [https://www.gov.uk/benefits-adviser] to see if you would be entitled to any housing benefit once you've sold the flat, and have a look on rightmove to see if you could afford to rent anything that you'd be a bit happier in. Might also be an idea to speak to a mortgage advisor to see if you'd be able to get a mortgage for something you'd rather live in. Will you have any money from the sale of the house that you can use as a deposit? I'm sure you'll feel so much better if you have a plan to get out of the flat, even you can't put it into action for a little while.

In the meantime there might be some easy things you could do to make the flat a little more bareable - the damp could be as simple as a broken gutter, or condensation. Is there mould or visible damp patches on the wall? If you can describe what the damp looks like you maybe able to figure out what is causing it and find an easy solution. A dehumidifier might help or better ventilation.

if it is really damp then you're going to have good fun selling it. Getting it fixed will solve both problems.

Why are you about to become homeless when you are living in a flat you part own?

HB doesn't just become payable because you are unhappy, unfortunately. Huge numbers of people live in much more unsuitable property. You might be better off asking for advice about what do about the damp.

It will be tricky getting benefits after you have sold the flat and/or the house which is in your name, because it will be assumed that you have all the money from selling it, less the outstanding mortgage amount.

Yes, getting housing bennefit does seem to depend on what savings you have - so if you were going to get proceeds from the sale of the house that might mean that you aren't able to claim. But if you are getting proceeds from the sale then I guess you could use these towards a mortgage deposit or renting somewhere.

I know you don't feel like you want to sort this house out, but I do think that as others have said fixing the damp will help you short term and make the flat easier to sell in the long term.