We advise homeowners in Grimsby, Cleethorpes and across North East Lincolnshire by phone and video call. If you own your home and you are over 55, this page is about using it to stay in the place you know, and make it work for you.
Staying put, and making the house work
Most people we speak to are not looking to move. They want to stay in the home they know, near family and neighbours, and they want the house to keep working for them as the years go on.
That often means a specific job. A new roof or boiler. A downstairs bathroom, a stairlift or a level access shower. Helping a grandchild with a deposit. Or simply having a bit more each month to live on.
You do not need to be after a large sum. The minimum release is £10,000, and plenty of conversations start with one repair that has been put off too long.
A lifetime mortgage means you can stay in your home for life. You keep ownership, there are no monthly payments required, and the loan is repaid when the property is eventually sold.
The house is usually worth more than people assume
A common reason people rule themselves out is a belief that their home is not valuable enough.
Your property needs to be worth at least £70,000. That is the floor for a lifetime mortgage.
Bungalows around Cleethorpes, Humberston, Scartho and Waltham are popular with later life lenders, partly because they suit people intending to stay put.
Terraces and interwar semis through Grimsby itself are ordinary residential property and generally straightforward.
Non-standard construction is not an automatic no. Non-standard properties are referred to a lender for a decision rather than declined out of hand, and lenders take different views, which is where being whole of market earns its keep.
Before you borrow for a repair
Sometimes there is a better route than borrowing.
There may be a grant from the local authority for the work you have in mind, or a benefit going unclaimed. A retirement interest only mortgage can cost less over time if your income supports the monthly payment. And sometimes the right answer is to do nothing at all.
Craig will tell you when equity release is not right. That conversation costs you nothing either way.
What we can look at
- Lifetime mortgages, whole of market
- Retirement interest only (RIO) and term interest only (TIO) mortgages, independent whole of market advice
- Interest only mortgages for ages 50 and over, independent whole of market advice
- Home reversion, referred to sector specialists
The basics
- 55 or over for a lifetime mortgage, 50 or over for a RIO
- Property worth at least £70,000, minimum release £10,000
- No upper age limit
- Joint applications assessed on the younger applicant
- Any existing mortgage repaid out of the release
Roughly up to 28% of your property's value at 55, around 37% at 65, around 44% at 70, and up to 60% from 80 onwards.
Not sure how any of this applies to your own circumstances? Craig is happy to talk it through, free and with no obligation.
Talking to us
By phone or video call, whichever suits. The first conversation is free, and our advice fee is a maximum of £1,495, payable only if your case completes.
Book a call with Craig or call 0113 403 5584.
