Struggling and need some advice if anyone can think of anything?

monetxchange

susleggott said:

The type of mortgage where you can stay and pay interest only for life does exist - that’s a Retirement Interest Only mortgage and suited to exactly this kind of scenario. The borrower does need to have income to keep up payments though and often a lifetime mortgage (equity release) gives more peace of mind because they can stop making interest repayments if they can’t afford them. 

OP, why were you advised to avoid equity release? It sounds like it could possibly help you clear the capital balance and enable you to keep living at the house. 

That's definitely worth looking into.

I wonder if the problem has arisen as the OP's retirement plan doesn't have any/much income coming in and they don't have a whole lot of equity in the house. It's definitely something for a professional to look at.

tlc678910

HI OP,
If I have understood correctly you might have enough equity to buy a flat and the only barrier to this is needing a garden.  But some flats have gardens so why not get searching for a ground floor flat with a garden?
If it still exists I believe there was a scheme called shared ownership for older persons.  In this scheme once you own 75% of the property there was no rent to pay on the remaining 25%.  It might be worth contacting your local shared ownership providers. This site also mentions "shared ownership for people with long term disabilities" https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/shared-ownership/

[Deleted User]

susleggott said:

The type of mortgage where you can stay and pay interest only for life does exist - that’s a Retirement Interest Only mortgage and suited to exactly this kind of scenario. The borrower does need to have income to keep up payments though and often a lifetime mortgage (equity release) gives more peace of mind because they can stop making interest repayments if they can’t afford them. 

OP, why were you advised to avoid equity release? It sounds like it could possibly help you clear the capital balance and enable you to keep living at the house. 

That’s an equity release product which is not the same as asking the current lender to change a repayment mortgage to interest only indefinitely with no capital repayment vehicle in place which is what had been previously suggested. 

It might be an option for the OP although I’m curious as to why two equity release advisers advised against doing it. 

tlc678910

My guess why you are being advised against equity release is that you are only 60 (?) with a good life expectancy so they could only let you release a small amount of money and expect the compound interest to eat away all your equity over time.  I don't know about the kind of lifetime mortgage where you pay the interest - perhaps the advisors find this unaffordable based on your income?

sammyjammy

I'm guessing that the comments about the lapsed endowment policy might imply the OP is already on interest only....