Saving for mortgage

[Lizmum1]

Hello

Not sure if I’m on the correct thread but I couldn’t find any about mortgages or savings.

Me and DH currently rent (gutted)
We pay £1200 pcm rent in a decent area close to our DDs nursery.
We love the house we are in and don’t particularly want to downsize due to the fact we for once have found a really long term let and the house is in a nice area close to everything and not too far from friends and relatives although still far enough away to be much cheaper. Renting nearer them is about 1600-2000 a month for the same or even smaller sized house.

We have 2 dcs together and DH has 3 dcs with previous partner hence we don’t really want to downsize from 3 beds as we do need the space.

I met dh when he was divorced and renting a flat himself. We had dd a few years later unplanned but wouldn’t change it for the world.
I understand this situation isn’t ideal to save for a house as most people do this before kids and still live with parents (not a option for us)

Dh is on a good income and always has disposable money and i now work part time (started this month) earning £700 a month but planning to use £500 to save each month of my money probably topped up by £100/200 a month from dh money

Currently we have no savings as we’ve been knocked 3 years in a row by landlords selling and have had to use savings for rental deposits and cars being fixed ect.

I really regret not saving harder in the past. I’m in my late 20s and dh is 40 this year.

Just curious to see if anyone has been successful in saving and buying a house the non traditional way (with kids and renting)

I’m finding it so hard motivation wise as we are going to have to save a huge sum over years and currently having no savings so nothing to look at to feel motivated.

I feel very stuck between longing to buy a house for stability and for my dcs sakes and wanting to just enjoy our lives and be able to treat them with the odd days out and holidays.

I know people are going to bash me for this (please don’t lol ) I jsit want to enjoy life and give my children fond memories and not have to skrimp so much that their early years consist of nothing.

My dad has very kindly said he will gift a sum if he sees we are continuously saving and my Nan is a option as she’s helped a few cousins towards deposits but obviously until I gather a decent sum of about 10-15k they won’t.

I’m worried too because My dh is approaching 40 and is the main earner and lots of people have said he will struggle to get a mortgage past 49 and I know it’ll take 3 years or more to save !

Any success stories of people saving whilst renting with dcs and eventually buying ?

We bought last June after 7 years of saving for a deposit.

I was 45 and DH 41. Two DDs. Both F/T.

We saved £10,000, could've been more but other things came up.

No holidays. Fairly cheap rent - £570 a month for years as we had no heating. Moved for school and rent increased to £750.

Our mortgage now is more than rent and we'll have a mortgage til I am 67.

It's nice though, feel relaxed about having our own place. I recommend it and it sounds like it won't take you so long.

We are currently in a similar situation, DH is 40 next year and I’m 34. I’ve recently upped my hours and DH has bagged a nice little job where he won’t have to pay out for fuel/uniform etc. Hoping to save roughly £1200 a month although that doesn’t stretch far here.

Look into ‘help to buy” isa, if neither of you have owned before then you’d both be able to get one. You can put up to £1200 in on your first month, then £200 per month thereafter. The government will pay 25% on top if it is used for a mortgage. Absolutely worth doing

It looks like you have enough disposable income to start saving so I would highly recommend that you do. There's nothing like owning your own home!

I'd advise to take out Lifetime ISAs as the government will top up what you save by 25% and it's tax-free.

Here's a really handy savings calculator which will tell you, based on how much you can save each month, what the best way to save for your deposit is:

www.firsthomecoach.co.uk/checklist/savings/

Also worth reading this article on the Bank of Mum and Dad. There are several ways they (or grandparents) can help that you may not have even heard of:

www.firsthomecoach.co.uk/articles/the-bank-of-mum-and-dad

Good luck! :-)

sus1s , thank you

I’m really loosing sleep over it all at the moment, DH has a ccj from a parking ticket that was originally sent to the incorrect address but we can’t do anything about it. It’s 4 years old so hopefully in the next couple of years when we are ready to buy it’ll disappear!

It feels so impossible at the moment and will be a long gruelling process I’m so impatient ! But it’ll be worth it in the end!

Thank you for the links I’ve had a look but the lifetime isa says you pay 25% if you withdraw savings before being 50! And may get back more than you pay in x

I know you say you have reduced your horse keeping costs, but tbh having two horses is really a luxury. What happens if you have a large vets bill? Certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility with old horses (or any horse, come to that). Or are you also forking out for their insurance, which won't be cheap?
I had to sell my horse when I decided to buy a house - no way could I afford to save/have a mortgage and a horse. I was heartbroken, but sometimes you have to make tough decisions.
I'm not criticising you, just pointing out that you might have your priorities wrong.

With the LISA you only pay the penalty if you withdraw the money for something other than to buy a house (or for your retirement). So definitely worth getting one each, and before your partner turns 40, if you think you'd spend the money on buying a property.

Definitely get a copy of both your credit files now too so you know there's nothing once the ccj drops off that can bite you on the ass . Had the ccj now been paid?

You sound as if you are doing really well. Have a look on www.moneysavingexpert.com as there are savings and home buying threads. Maximise interest by using regular savers e.g. hsbc pay 5% on regular saver of max £250 per month for 1 year. Look at ways where you can save every penny. There are also great ideas for cheap/free days out. Children remember great times not fancy holidays. I couldn’t get rid of my DD’s horse either. We’ve had her for 14 years - DD even took her to Uni and has her with her where she now lives. I’ve got a series of spreadsheets set up to monitor every penny and really enjoy seeing the pot grow. It becomes a habit and you just need to think when buying something whether you need it/can afford it etc. It won’t take long to save your deposit if you’re motivated. Good luck.😀

Desmondo2016

We have checked our credit files,
Ccj was about 5 years ago and was all paid years ago it’s ‘satisfied’

Dh has nothing other than that but I have a 3 year old deault with myself! It’s been settled a while.
It was a t a point where dh job wasn’t half a well paid as it is now and I was pregnant and signed off work and was paying huge bills and struggled to pay a few causing them to default. Since this we cut out nearly 2,000 a month of these bills.

Dh has a personal accountant who is also a mortgage broker and is 100% confident in getting us as mortgage despite these issues on our files due to them being a few years old and dhs earnings, hundreds of other bills paid monthly on time, high rent never missed and hopefully a 10-15% deposit fingers crossed! If not we will wait a couple of years for everything to vanish!

Thank you very much bouncydog

We are gonna give it our all ! It’s not a joke anymore we have been living comfortable a while now just enjoying life but it’s always been a goal for us we’ve just never been brave enough to even try - sounds ridiculous but it can be very daunting just thinking of the sums and sometimes it’s judt been good for us to enjoy our kids being young!

That’s lovely about your dds horse, many of my friends took theirs to uni and eventually moved to the location afterwards too! Horses are expensive and people class them as luxury but when you’ve had a pony from being a kid and have learnt everything with that one pony who are you to just give it up when it’s done it’s job. They’re family to me! Yes expensive but now on diy at a 5th of the cost we originally was paying it would be cruel and inhumane to kill them as they’re unsellable. Just to save a extra 200 a month and get a house quicker!!

Not everyone will understand

I’ll look into those savings accounts! Thank you for your kind motivation! It’s needed lol !!