Moving to North Wales

eggy

Our house is no longer suitable for our needs My husband has moblity issues due to stroke and diabetes .I have health problems due to Cancer and the long term pelvic radiation damage .My husband is 63 and I will be 60 in May .We are looking at Bungalows but they are too expensive here Our best friend lives in North Wales where bungalows are much cheaper to buy would we be able to get a mortgage .We have small pensions from our previous employers and both get employment support allowance This used to be called incapacity benefit .Our friend would be able to help us as my health is getting worse and her support would help us live more comfortably and independently We also get DLA 

steve51

Hi @eggy

Welcome to our website & online community.

I'm very sorry to hear of your current problems.

What a loverly idea moving to Wales

Sam_Alumni

Hi @eggy welcome to the community - North Wales is a lovely part of the country and I think it is always helpful if you already know people in a new area! Good luck with the move!

Debbie_Alumni

Hi @eggy,

Welcome to the community

If your income consists solely of benefits, it will be very difficult to secure a mortgage. There are strict Mortgage Affordability Tests that you will have to pass at the time of your application and further along in the future. Various stress tests will be applied to your application to assess how vulnerable you are to income shocks such as a rise in interest rates. These extra measures were put into place following the financial crisis back in 2008. There was further tightening up of these tests this year and this is going to make home-ownership even further out of reach.

Benefits aren't as stable and secure as they once were. Sickness and Disability benefits are subject to periodic re-assessments and future entitlement can’t be guaranteed. There have been numerous changes to the welfare benefits system and a freeze in the rate in which they increase. Simply put, they just don't provide enough income to sustain a mortgage. Universal Credit is also rolling out nationally and by the end of 2018 all areas will become full-service. This will impact on affordability and further adds to the risk assessed by lenders.

In terms of paying for a mortgage there isn’t any help as such in the same way as there is when you rent. There is limited help called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) but this is difficult to get on a new mortgage. There are also long waiting times before you qualify for help. This support is also changing in April 2018 from a benefit to a loan. The Loan for Mortgage Interest would be repayable when the claimant is able to return to work or when the property is sold. The rates of interest will be based on gilt rates. If a claimant receives help through a loan, the loan will be repayable if/when the claimant goes back to work or when the property is sold. A charge will be placed on the property. If there's no equity left in the property when it's sold and all other charges are repaid, the debt will be written off.

Do have a look at the information on housingcare.org which specialises in retirement housing, you might find some options on there that you hadn't thought about before. 

There has been significant changes to the benefits system and more are coming with Universal Credit.

A change in circumstances like moving house is likely to trigger your invitation to claim PIP. If you move into a full-service Universal Credit area, your existing benefits are certain to stop and a new claim for Universal Credit needed instead. This comes with its own problems. If you need more information about this, let me know.

I hope that this has been helpful and I wish you all the best in finding a suitable property.

Best wishes

Debbie

 

eggy

Thank you For replies And Thank you Debbie for all the information ,Eggy