[ubuntu] Apache gives 403 on specific content like CSS, JS, SVG and PNG

hey there,

Last few days I've been wandering the inteet in desperate search for an answer or any workable solution for my current problem. Although I have found quite some similar threads with same errors, the solutions provided in those threads did not work out for me. So, I created this thread in hope someone can help me out on this issue.

First, let me describe what I'm working on: I've got a Ubuntu 14.04 LTS machine and I have Apache2 (version 2.4.7) installed on it. The website (a Hippo CMS website) is installed in my home directory (/home/user/project). I can run the container with a maven command ("mvn -P cargo.run") and I use Apache along with it for serving main files.

The issue
When ruing Apache and the cargo container I can visit the welcome Apache website ("localhost:80") and I can visit my own site ("https://mysite.local", yes it is configured to be secure so I'm using port 443 for it). The apache home page is shown fully and correct (proper layout, all images are shown, etc). However, my own site only displays the textual content and JPG/JPEG images. All CSS files, JavaScript files and images of PNG/SVG format are not loaded. For each of those files I get an 403 error, along with the message "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access rootdir/img/someImage.svg on this server."

So, basically Apache seems to be well configured. The website is loaded and the resources are partially accessible. As far as I can see, the problem seems to be with permissions on Ubuntu.

Attempts so far
Well, so far I have tried/done the next few things in order to make it work:

• Edited apache2.conf: added DocumentRoot pointing to the directory where the page is deployed;
• Edited apache2.conf: added UserDir pointing to directory where site is deployed (in home directory);
• Edited apache2.conf: added Directory directive to www directory, allowing from all and disabling override (.htacces);
• Edited apache2.conf: added AddType directives for css & js;
• Added www-var to my user group and added my user to www-var group;
• chmod +777 on www directory (had no effect so changed it back to 755);
• chown www directory (recursive) to www-data (and back to my own useame);

None of those above worked. And it's all I could find on other community disccusions and Google.
Also, there are no errors in the log files of Apache. If anyone wants to see an specific item then let me know.

The solution
Who knows what to do to enable me showing the content from my home directory to Apache?

Thanks in advance!!