First time buyer help

[OnNaturesCourse]

Basically, where do we even start?

(things like this should be taught in schools)

My partner is in the building trade.

He actually done up our rented property for a discounted rent for a period of time. We'd need to look at something which he could work at it.

Has anyone look at the auctioned houses? I know of people getting houses cheaper through auctions (houses with damage, or in need of work etc)

Some auction properties can't be bought with a mortgage, cash only. I think you need to save more, buy something smaller and cheaper or move area. I think you will struggle to buy at 180k with 13k deposit

www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/house-auctions/

This might be helpful.

Be careful you don't eat into your deposit doing surveys on properties you get outbid on.

Can you stay with family/friends while doing the work? Might be trickier if you need to move straight in with kids in tow.

Be realistic about materials costs - it's great your DP can do the work but the materials soon add up too so you'll need a budget for that.

You can sometimes get bargains like secondhand kitchen units or bathroom suites v cheap or free though, my sister got a kitchen for £100 because it was considered "dated".