MORTGAGE PRISONER? THE CHAINS GROW LOOSER!

Mortgage lenders are becoming more flexible in dealing with borrowers who are locked into their present mortgage arrangement for one reason or another.

 

 There are those who were self-employed and found that the self-certification of income enabled them to raise the level of the mortgage they needed. Others will have taken out a mortgage in the past where they paid only interest, and now are approaching the end of the agreed mortgage term and their strategy to repay the mortgage may not now be workable. Still others have reached an age where they can get only a very short-term mortgage or even no mortgage at all.

Problem: Age

Solution: Try your present lender to see if they can provide some flexibility or contact us as there are a number of small lenders who will take a more enlightened view about maximum mortgage ages.

Problem: Providing adequate income

Solution: Again, first try your present lender to see how they may be able to help. Then try us to see what can be achieved on the income that you can prove. There is a wide variation in the way different lenders calculate the maximum lending they will permit. And if you and your spouse are both aged over 55, it is worth seeing if a Lifetime Mortgage would provide a solution. A Lifetime Mortgage is based on your age and property value and can run indefinitely. There are no maximum age restrictions and there are no income requirements. (But do remember that a Lifetime Mortgage is only going to work where the mortgage is relatively low in comparison to the property value.) Give us a ring and we can let you know what can be done.

Problem: An interest-only mortgage reaching the end of the mortgage term

Solution: The first thing to do is to work out what you want to do. It may be that you can deal with the problem by simply selling your property and downsizing. It is also possible to speak with your present lender and get them to extend the term of the mortgage if that is going to enable you to repay it in the reasonably near future – say, up to 5 years. There are also still lenders who will do interest-only mortgages and it may be worth talking with us about those options. And there is also the Lifetime Mortgage option mentioned above where the mortgage owed is relatively small when measured against the property value.