Aw, babes, I'm so sorry that you're down. Finances really suck.
I don't know how much help I'm going to be, so feel free to take or leave what I have to say (of course!).
I honestly don't think you'd be "laughing" with a mortgage. I think you're much better off just gradually getting rid of your debt. You might be able to find a lender who'll offer you a personal loan with a lower interest rate than what you're paying now, and that'd definitely be valuable (particularly if your debt is credit card debt - those interest rates are rediculous).
The way the market is at the moment, it is quite expensive to get a home loan when you don't have a decent deposit (at least 10%). Certainly the banks are tightening up on this and the other non-banks will follow. (Or else they will charge you unseemly amounts of money.)
I am in the same boat - we are renting, DH's work is slowing down which is stressing him out, we have some credit card debt and no real savings and I'm about to finish up at work and have a baby
But the reality is that we are not in a position to manage a mortgage. One day, we will be in a better place financially - I have to believe that - and that will be the time to get ourselves a mortgage and our own home.
Hang in there. Things are depressing now, but as you've said, you're going back to work and you can steadily work on reducing that debt. You WILL be in a better place soon.