Five years ago I inherited £80,000. I was living with my son and partner (not sons dad) at the time. Quite unexpectedly (for me) my partner asked me and my son to move out. He’d been quite controlling in some ways prior to this, and had convinced me to work less hours at work. We lived in Kent, and I moved in with my dad who was selling his house at the time and moving to Surrey. So, I was on a time scale to buy a property which maybe explains why I did what I did next as I had to hurry up. We also have a dog so that meant certain leasehold places were unsuitable. I couldn’t secure a mortgage due to my low earnings.
We made a bold move to South Wales where I could afford a nice house with garden for the dog and I could buy it outright.
Since then, my son’s has developed severe OCD, and he stopped attending high school two years ago just after the pandemic. I now work from home due to this. Because of DLA and child maintenance etc I could get a mortgage for £70,000 (I’ll only be able to claim these benefits for another 18months) and the house is now worth around £140,000.
Today my son had a meltdown about hating living here. I haven’t made many connections at all here and all friends and family are back in Kent.
Even with a mortgage, and the money from this house we could only afford perhaps a one bed starter home or a two bed in a very run down area (which my son is incredibly anxious about due to his anxieties about burglaries etc). I’m nervous to get a mortgage incase things go pear shaped with my job and also the benefits will all potentially stop in 18 months time (altho my son may claim PIP and Universal Credit then?)
My son is extremely sleep deprived at the moment, and hasn’t managed to engage with the private therapist yet.
The crazy thing is, I’m so bloody grateful for the inheritance money, but I was in a better emotional and social situation when I rented in Kent before I moved in with my partner. I feel stuck. I don’t know how to make such a huge decision now as I feel whatever I do is wrong. My son has made a few friends here but he only speaks to them online. He did say recently that he wants to stay here til he’s 16 and try and go to college with his mates?! But changes his mind about that like the wind too.
So I’d be really grateful for any advice at all. I’ve looked at buying a boat (!) a park home, maisonettes, I’m honestly so lost. I feel like I keep making mistakes.