Two roofs, one income

If one mortgage is a burden, two must seem an impossible load. Parents in modern families may have to finance loans for new and existing families or pay for one single-handed.

Frances Walker of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service says: 'There is a growing trend for single parents, or one parent supporting the family they no longer live with, plus a new family home or rented accommodation for themselves.'

Mortgage borrowers must be more than three months in arrears before they can apply for state help with their interest repayments.

Ian Jordan, head of mortgages at independent financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, says: 'Tell your lender as soon as you think you might be facing difficulties. Most borrowers will be surprised just how helpful their lender can be if they let the company know early.'

One divorcee told Cash: 'I was paying two mortgages for a few months - for my ex-wife, and for the new house for myself, my new partner and my children. This was obviously a huge strain, but I asked my lender if I could not pay interest on the loans for a few months to bring down the cost of my repayments and roll-up the interest to pay over the rest of the mortgages. They agreed without quibbling.'

A typical settlement sees the mother looking after the children in the marital home, but divorce lawyer Marilyn Stowe of Grahame Stowe Bateson says it is possible for the father to continue to own the house.

Let us say a husband has paid most of the mortgage and wants to keep ownership, while still providing a roof for his former partner and their children.

As part of the settlement he could opt to retain ownership of the property, but allow his ex-wife and their children to live under a legal agreement to stay in the home .

Those starting up a new home with a new spouse and family would also do well to bear in mind that, statistically, second marriages are even more likely to fail than first marriages. Establishing a pre-nuptial agreement ahead of getting married could save further financial chaos should the relationship break down.

Lenders are sympathetic to borrowers whose ability to repay their mortgage depends largely on maintenance payments from their ex-spouses, but normally only if the maintenance has been settled in court.

For fathers whose income must support either their own rented accommodation or a further marital home, as well as providing a home for their ex-wife and children, Harris suggests fixed or capped deals for the security of knowing what the maximum repayments will be.

· Consumer Credit Counselling Service, 0800 138 1111.