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HOME REPOSSESSIONS ARE SET TO HIT A RECORD HIGH THIS YEAR. MUM OF THREE MAXINE KING, 24, NEVER IMAGINED SHE’D END UP HOMELESS – BUT HERE SHE REVEALS HOW THE COLLAPSE OF HER RELATIONSHIP LEFT HER DESTITUTE

By Diana Appleyard

May 2007

I’m about to give birth to our third child, but my partner David came home from work today and told me he doesn’t love me any more. I couldn’t believe it. We were childhood sweethearts, and have been together seven years. He’s a bus driver and I think it’s making him stressed. The one positive thing is that he said I wasn’t to worry about money and promised to carry on paying the bills and our £810-a-month mortgage.

 

June 2007

David was with me in hospital as our son Toby was born. Watching David hold him in his arms, I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t come back to us. My mum’s helping out, and the children – Jake, four, and Ella, two – are staying with David from Tuesday to Thursday each week. I’m very worried about money, though. I used to be a supermarket supervisor, but I haven’t worked since I had Jake.

 

July 2007

David says that he can’t afford to pay the £170,000 mortgage on our three-bedroom house in Gravesend, Kent, any more. With insurance, our fixed-rate mortgage costs nearly £900 a month, but he only earns
£300 a week, and he has to pay rent on his new home. I feel as if my world has collapsed. All I have is £400 a month child tax credit and £170 in child benefit, plus a small sum David gives me for the kids. I’ve cut down our grocery bills from £70 to £50 a week.

 

August 2007

I got a letter from our mortgage company saying that I have to at least pay the interest on the loan. We’d taken out the mortgage in joint names, but David has given me the house. The idea was that this would give
me a nest egg. I love this house and thought we’d be happy and safe here. I must try to save it. It’s my children’s home.

 

September 2007

The stress of all this is dreadful. My GP’s put me on antidepressants. I’ve decided I must sell the house, and within weeks of putting it on the market, I’d found a buyer. This would have solved all my problems, but then just weeks away from exchanging contracts for the asking price of £185,000, the mortgage company dealt their hammer blow. We’re on a special fixed-rate mortgage, so there’s a redemption fee of £9,000 if I give up the mortgage early. Then, all of a sudden, house prices started to crash and we’re now in negative equity. We bought the house for £172,000 in May 2005, and today it’s worth around £169,000. With the added redemption costs, I can’t see a way out. I’ve contacted a solicitor for help.

 

October 2007

I’ve stopped eating and I’m crying all the time. The kids are badly affected. No one can lend me the money to pay the mortgage company. My solicitor says we must take them to court to fight the redemption charge, but now I’m worried about paying her £1,000 fees, too. I don’t qualify for legal aid as I’m judged to have ‘assets’ because I own the house.

 

January 2008

The cost of living is rising even further. The children are wearing hand-me-downs from friends, and I dread them growing out of their shoes. I can’t go out to work with three young children – I couldn’t afford the childcare bills. I can’t imagine I will be able to work until they’re all at school, which won’t be for over three years.

 

February 2008

Today is Valentine’s Day. How ironic – I attended a court hearing in Gravesend where the judge told me that I have to pay the redemption fee. I broke down in court. “Please help me,” I begged. “I’m going to lose my home.” The judge replied: “There’s nothing I can do.” 

 

March 2008

I’m in arrears by about £5,000, so the mortgage company is repossessing my home and we’re being evicted. It’s like living a nightmare. David’s being supportive and we’re getting on well, but he doesn’t have the money to help. The kids are crying, asking me: “Why do we have to leave, Mummy? Is it our fault?” I keep hugging them, trying to be brave. I went to the council, but they say I’ve made myself intentionally homeless by being repossessed, so they can’t make me a priority. In desperation, I rang the housing charity Shelter. They were brilliant and got the council to agree to pay the deposit on a rented house.

 

May 2008

It’s two months on, and I still cry every time I walk past my old home. I’ll be blacklisted now so I won’t be able to get a mortgage for at least four years. It’s a huge blow. Once Toby is at school, I plan to train to be a midwife. It’s a three-year course, but if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll buy my children their own home and we’ll be safe. I am so angry that no one apart from Shelter was prepared to offer me a helping hand.

 

David says: “I deeply regret the fact that we had to lose the house, and it was all because of the redemption charge. It’s sad that Maxine and I split up, but I’m determined to be a committed father to our children, and I help out financially as much as I can. This situation brings so much misery to families who are just doing their best to survive. I’m now renting too, and I don’t know when I can get back on the property ladder.”

 

Have you lost everything after getting into debt? How did you cope? Did it affect your relationships with people? Do you bury your head in the sand about your financial situation?

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Photography: Syriol Jones Hair & Make-up: Oonagh Connor