Helen and Graham’s story

Helen and Graham have both been self-employed for most of their working lives. Graham is in the construction industry and has had to reduce his work significantly in the last 12 months because of a recurring back problem. Helen has seen a similar dip in income too and they have struggled with mortgage repayments. They now find themselves in arrears and have been told that repossession is the next step by their lender. Graham has spent the last 5 years doing their barn conversion and they have no capital remaining but are desperate to stay in their home, which is worth £615,000.

They were delighted when they came to us to enquire about equity release and realised that they could borrow enough money to pay off their mortgage of £127,000 including the arrears and have an extra sum to allow them to finish the interior decorating of the barn. They also wanted to take a well-needed holiday after all the stress they have both endured. Helen and Graham made the decision to choose a lender that offered an interest payment facility; this means that while they can still afford to they are paying the interest only each month (£427.00) They can stop this payment at any time, but while they have the income to do this they are maintaining the borrowing at £134,000.

As with all the Lifetime Mortgages that we recommend, the rate is fixed for life, so Helen and Graham will know exactly how much the debt will roll-up by once they decide to stop making the interest payments.