£50K loan -- looking for advice

unclepauly1

Hi, we're a husband and wife with no debts, no real savings and a high-value house. Looking to borrow £50K for a home improvement. Probably over 5 -- 7 years. I work full-time, wife works part time. 3 kids no child-minder/nursery costs. We feel we could comfortably afford monthly payments equivalent to what our mortgage used to be -- £800. Am in the process of applying for a joint loan with Nationwide . . but thought I'd ask around for any recommendations? Happy to also consider alternatives to loans. Some suggest equity release . . but it sounds complicated to me.

Keep_pedalling

I would have thought a short term mortgage mortgage would be the better option. 

gwynlas

To keep payments at a level of £800 a month you are probably looking at getting a 10 year mortgage.

Please ensure that you are borrowing enough to complete the work to a high standard.

CliveOfIndia

Equity release is not really an option to be recommended.  £50K is on the high side for a standard personal loan, I think you'd struggle to find anyone prepared to lend you that amount on an unsecured basis.

I concur with previous comments - an ordinary mortgage (albeit over a shorter time period than a "standard" 25 year term) is likely to be your best bet.  If you don't currently have a mortgage or any other debt, you shouldn't have too much problem in finding a reasonably favourable rate - dependent on your income and credit history, of course.

Do bear in mind that, should you find yourself unable to meet the repayments on a mortgage, the implications are rather more serious than failing to repay an unsecured loan.  But all other things being equal, it's probably the most realistic option.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

If you are mortgage free and still have no real savings can you afford the £800 a month mortgage repayment?

Deeme1099

What happened to your savings.

Juno_Moneta

For £50k unsecured First Direct (HSBC) seem like they would be simple to deal with. 

Useful calculator here where you can play with the amount and months - looks like 5.9% up to £30k and 6.9% up to £50k. 

https://www.firstdirect.com/loans-and-cards/personal-loans/

Terms say you have to open their current account to qualify - but this doesn’t need to contain all your normal direct debits (that’s only to get the switching incentive), so rather than transferring your main current account just set it up as a 2nd account and create a standing order to put eg £1k a month - then approach them “as an existing customer(!)” and apply 2 months later. 

Rate is actually good at the moment and the 5.9% level matches peers on MSE best buy loan tables (that usually max at £25k not £30k).

You might get a rate of 0.25% less if you wait for the one or two expected rate cuts by end of 2025 - but the loan market is not as tied to base rate as the mortgage market so may be slower to respond.