Ask the experts
About our experts...
At John Charcol, we are constantly asked for advice by borrowers on what they should do when it comes to mortgages. As such, we created this section so that you can submit your questions to our experts. The answers are provided by a number of people who have years of experience in the mortgage market. The team is led by Peter Woodward who spent his formative years as an underwriter with one of the major UK lenders and the last 10 years in our Technical Department along side Ray.
So please do submit your question and we will do all we can to answer it as quickly as possible
Please be aware that these answers can only be generic and no personal recommendations can be made.
Posted on 02/06/2010
I would like to buy my mother and father inlaw's house with my wife. What is the situtation if one or both required a care home or 24 hour care after the purchase, can the goverment demand that I sell the property to fund their care?
Categories: Legal matters, Mortgages in retirement, Special circumstances
Posted on 20/05/2010
Abbey turned down a mortgage application by me because I am 70 years old. I wished to borrow £50000 on a £400000 house and paying the balance of £350000 from the sale of my old house. I would have repaid the £50000 over a 5 year period. So why have they turned me down?
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 10/05/2010
I own my own flat in Glasgow with no mortgage worth about 165k.
My sister and I have inherited my late mother's house, a small terraced house in Weymouth, and I am considering buying my sister out of her share so will need to raise between 70 and 80k. I have been told it will be better to do this by remortgaging/capital raising ( whatever the correct term is ) on my own home rather than seeking a buy to let mortgage for 50 percent of it's value on the other property. As I am nearing retirement age will there be any restrictions on the term I can get?
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 09/04/2010
We are both pensioners (63 and 66). We have combined pensions of £18500 per annum. We wish to move property but we will need a mortgage of about £45000. Will it be possible to get a mortgage at our age and if so will we get the amount we want. Our credit rating is excellent, 999 is my current score with experian. Please advise.
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 27/03/2010
I borrowed £25000 on a 10 year interest only mortgage with Egg to buy under the rtb paying a deposit of £30000, the property was dicounted to £55000. I'm 65 in October & due to repay £25000 by then. I'm wondering how to do this and my options the property value is around £145000 now the mortgagor told me they wouldn't extend the term beyond my 65th birthday so I'm assuming I will have to sell, and buy something else I'm not working due to ill health and get pension credit who, atm are paying the interest for me, I have just under £10000 in savings.
Categories: Interest only vs repayment, Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 24/03/2010
My husband and I are 63 and 61.Our flat is worth around £115,000 less than we paid for it three years ago.We have three years left to pay on our repayment mortgage owing 20,000.We also owe 10,000 on a lifetime tracker loan and we have an mortgage reserve overdraft of 24,000.We have considered selling to pay up the debt but is there a way we can move to another lender without the payments being huge.My husband reaches retirement age in two years what options could be available to us.we have pensions of £967 amonth and my husbands salary of around £12,000 per month.
Categories: Mortgages in retirement, Remortgaging
Posted on 15/03/2010
My Grandmother currently has her house on the market for £150k, which is a realistic price, but the market is really slow and she is not getting any viewings. She has fallen in love with a bungalow, which I is worth between £120k & £130k. Can you suggest anyway that she could buy the bungalow before her house sells? She is 76.
I do have a property myself, owned outright valued at approx. £80k but I am in the process of moving myself and do not want to affect how much I can borrow in my own right, I personally need between £50-£75k to move 'up'. Although I have complete faith that she would be able to keep up with any payments I am concerned that if I help her out I won't be able to get what I want when I need it. Could she do a buy to let on her own house? Or could I do a buy to let on the bungalow with no effect on my mortgage options?
Categories: Let-to-buy, Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 16/05/2008
My mother had a fall recently and after several weeks in hospital she is now staying with me as I live in a bungalow. We are very overcrowded so it is not an ideal situation. Her house is on the market for 89950 which is a realistic price. There have been about 5 viewings in as many weeks but no offers. She has seen a flat that she really likes close to me and my brother which is priced at 97950. My question is, can we help in any way to get the flat until the house sells ? Is it better to remortgage her house (she will put it into our names if necessary) or get a remortgage on one of our houses. Mine is valued at 225000 with 80000 mortgage and my brother's around 400000 with small mortgage. There is no mortgage on her house but we are not too keen on letting it out if we can avoid it. Can you help ?
Categories: Mortgages in retirement, Raising capital out of property, Special circumstances
Posted on 04/03/2008
I will be 75 in October. I live alone, am disabled, have a fixed retirement income and need to sell my bungalow and purchase a flat in town. Is there a way that I can buy a flat and move in and not pay anything until the bungalow is sold?
Categories: Bridging loans, Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 03/03/2008
I have a house worth £130,000 with no mortgage. I am going to buy a house worth £200,000 with a mortgage. I am 69 and my wife is 64. We have a pension and get £218.25 weekly. We are disabled and have DLA. I would like to know what mortgage we could get and the monthly repayments. Would the money we receive from the DLA be included as well? Thank you for your help. Harry and Mery
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 24/02/2008
We have a part repayment/part endowment mortgage and need to borrow £25,000 to extend our property. Would it be better to cash in the Standard Life endowment (due to mature in 2015 and predicting a shortfall of between £14,000-£22,000) which is said to be worth about £17,600? It would be good to have any advice! Many thanks.
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 10/02/2008
I took early retirement as a teacher. My gross pension is £13,500. I earn the same again as a freelance trainer. I was 57 in January 2008. Could I raise a mortgage on my pension alone, preferably interest only? I intend to carry on working until I am 65.
Categories: Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 28/01/2008
We have an interest only mortgage of £25000 with 18 months left of our 25 year term. We also have a repayment mortgage on the same property with £8489.00 owing over 4 years. Our endowment policy will not meet the £25,000 target for the interest only loan. We have £10,000 available to either clear the repayment loan or to use in reducing the capital on our interest only loan. We'd be grateful if you could advise us which is the best option. Are there other ideas we might pursue?
Categories: Interest only vs repayment, Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 28/12/2007
My parents are selling their house to buy a retirement flat from a friend. They must complete the deal before the end of March 2008 or they will lose it. Their house is on the market at £125,000 and they are buying at £99,000 with £15,000 to repay on mortgage. However, the market is slow and I am worried they may lose out. My husband and I have a house worth over £300,000 with no mortgage. He is 61 and I am 62. Would it be possible for me to buy it on their behalf as a buy-to-let and rent it to them? My pension is small but I could manage repayments of £400 per month in the event of them not being around to pay me and a deposit of £40,000.
Categories: Buy-to-let, Legal matters, Mortgages in retirement
Posted on 20/12/2007
Hi Katie, in your reply to Mr Churms you say 'Of the few lenders that could offer you a mortgage, only a few could do so for more than a few years' Can you please tell me who these few are? As I would like to re-mortgage, and not use equity release. I am 68 but I work and have an annual income in excess of £50,000. My house is worth about £320,000 and I would like to re-mortgage about £80,000.
Categories: Equity release, Mortgages in retirement
Answers provided in response to Ask the experts are based on the information provided and do not constitute advice under the Financial Services & Markets Act. They reflect the personal views of the authors and do not neccessarily represent the views, positions, strategies or opinions of John Charcol. All comments are made in good faith, and John Charcol will not accept liability for them.
We recommend you seek professional advice with regard to any of these topics where appropriate.