www.iva.co.uk

feel totally gutted that there seems no hope of getting a mortgage, and that i will have to waste money renting for next 2-3 years min.

Hi Lottie.

Have you had a chat with Ryan?

Renting isn't the waste of money it used to be as the property market is in the doldrums at the moment and unlikely to recover they reckon for the next 5-6 years. .

Have you completed your IVA ?

Have you heard back from Ryan ? We rented for 3 years and although it was dead money it gave some peace of mind while we were in our IVA as all repairs were covered.....however saying that I couldn't wait for our mortgage (thanks to Ryan) to be approved and keys received for our house.......don't give up hope

Renting isn't dead money (and I'm saying that having always been a homeowner) we all need somewhere to live and have to pay for it regardless, at the moment my monthly mortgage payment seems to be pushing me further into negative equity rather than actually paying off my mortgage

We British have become obsessive with property ownership, which is why repossessions are at an all time high. Our European cousins rent far more properties than they buy, particularly in France and Germany, where standards of living and economies are perhaps at a stronger level. A house is just bricks and mortar, and can end up being a huge liability trap which can be difficut to get out of, whereas a home can be anywhere you and your family are. So don't be too down on the rental market - many families live very happily this way.

We were encouraged to buy years ago and pushed ourselves well too far. Our home needed a lot of work and we decided to sell and rent for the rest of our lives.

We have never once regretted doing this. We have a gorgeous place on a long term let, with loads of land to do what we want on. Have a fab landlady and in the future we can just up and go wherever we want.

Of course there is a chance in the future of being in a position of inheriting money and we would possibly buy a small place for retirement but at the moment we don't envy our friends with their own places.

I'm selling next year to rent if I have my way...fed up of the mortgage and being stuck in this area, to buy something we can afford we'd have a lot to do to it and I've had enough of that.

My only regret is that we remortaged a few years ago on the advice of the bank (they refused to help us) so instead of the mortgage finishing in just over twelve months, there's another seven years to go!!

Won't be renting though as I doubt we'd find anywhere to take all of the dogs!!

hi guys, thanks for all your replys, and i feel so much better now. i did e-mail ryan, and was so helpful, but until our 6 year period is over, we can only get a mortgage with non- high street lenders, and i wanted a shared ownership mortgage, so will not be possible for another 2-3 years. renting i guess has many advantages, and it wont be forever, just until i can get a decent mortgage, with a decent interest rate. I can't afford to pay 8-9% on a mortgage, and be locked into it, just seems too risky. nice to hear your stories, and thanks for making it seem not so bad.

Lottie you'll be fine and in 2 or 3 years you'll be a homeowner. All the best you will get your dream home one day x