The lyrics say it all!

I’ll never forget the judge telling me that I would never be able to afford to buy a house and therefore it didn’t matter how much I got out of my divorce (don’t get me started on that one, especially as I was the one with the 2 children and the victim of domestic abuse who had no choice but to flee the family home!).

At the time her words hurt deeply but I believe in fate and despite thinking she was probably right, as I am a single mum, so even when I work full-time, it would be very hard to get a mortgage on my own without a generous deposit.

However, in my village they have built some new houses and a few of them went up as shared ownership properties.

There aren’t many shared ownership properties around, and most are either 2 bedroom or they are more than £100,000. So, you can imagine my surprise when a couple of 3-bedroom shared ownership properties came on the market at a price that I could just about to afford thanks to my divorce settlement. I didn’t hold my breath though because it normally takes weeks to register and get approved for shared ownership properties and there is often a waiting list as there aren’t many around.

This would normally be enough to stop me even applying as I would think, what’s the point? But for whatever reason I decided to apply despite thinking that nothing would come of it but to my surprise my application was accepted the same day and I got offered a viewing!

I remember the day that I went to look around the house and how I felt.

I think because I hadn’t anticipated that I would get to this stage and because the other local developments that included shared ownership properties looked like houses that had been built without much care, I didn’t have high expectations.

So, when I went in and saw the lovely kitchen, the well thought out layout, the generous sized master bedroom, the quality fittings, and nice garden, I just stood there and cried tears of happiness. All that went running through my mind was that I couldn’t believe after everything I had been through and despite being told that I would never be able to afford a house of my own that here I was stood in a lovely house that could be mine. I couldn’t believe it.

After the viewing I went away and told the agent that I would like the property and shortly afterwards I signed a contract and put my deposit down.

At that moment in time, I was elated and shocked as I never imagined in my wildest dreams that this would be possible, certainly not for years to come.

Then when I heard Lily Allen’s song, F**k You, I thought it about summed up how I felt about that judge as well as my ex and her family who also believed that I would be left without a house and that eventually I would have to either go back with my tail between my legs or that I would have to send my girls to live with them because I couldn’t afford a house for me and my girls.

I have waited to share this news until I knew 100% that it was all going through and this week after a very long wait I have now signed all the paperwork and apart from waiting to confirm a completion date there is nothing left to do but wait and start packing!

By the end of this year, I will have moved into my very own house, I can’t begin to tell you how amazing that feels and I’m still not sure it has sunk in!

I really like where I live now, and I have lots of lovely memories and I am sure I will miss it, but it is rented, and I know that rental prices have gone through the roof here lately which would leave me unable to afford this house. On top of that housing benefit only covers 55% of the rent and its always at the back of my mind that I could be kicked out at any minute which makes me feel somewhat unsettled.

Knowing that this is my own house and that I can decorate it how I want and that I can’t be kicked out is a great feeling.

So, just another spinning plate to add to the mix! I know that it will be hectic and possibly stressful as it will be mostly down to me to do all the packing and unpacking and unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of being able to afford a removals company to help, so I will be sourcing someone who has a van I can hire and ideally someone to help me move some of the heavy items but once it is all done I know that I will definitely need to celebrate!

It’s funny how things turn out and this feels like an exciting new chapter in my life!