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 11/02/2009
My husband and I are in our 4th year of an IVA and our fixed rate mortgage ended in January so we are now on the variable rate. We bought the house in 2001 for £43,000 but have a secured loan of £36,000 when we had the house valued last year it stood at £135,000 but due to the credit crunch I understand the value has dropped to about £98,000 we are expected to re-mortgage this year to raise £10,500 from the equity our current mortgage lender won't help even though we have never missed or even been late with a single payment. Is there anything we can do? Or do we say to the IVA Company we don't have any equity now?
You don’t say how much your First Charge mortgage is but it seems likely that the combined amount of your first and second charge (which you refer to as a secured loan) will be such that any additional borrowing secured on the property will be impossible in the current market, especially as your current lender won’t help. Even if you had more equity it would still be extremely difficult in today’s market to find a lender who would offer a mortgage to anyone in an IVA. Furthermore, mortgage valuers are currently being very cautious and so it is likely that your house will be valued at less than you expect if you apply for a remortgage.
To be certain you can’t raise any more money we would need more detail and so please call us on 0800 71 81 91 if you would like to check. However, you will probably have to tell the IVA Company you can’t raise any cash at present on your house.
Categories: Bad credit, Consolidation of debts, Remortgaging, Secured loans
Posted on 13/05/2008
My ex boyfriend is selling the flat we lived in in West London. We are on very good terms and have been working together on getting it ready for sale. It was bought in 2000 for 72k and is now worth around 153,000. The mortgage (with Abbey National Mortgage Finance) stands at 74k and is in his name only. The bathroom (pink, 20 yrs old) and kitchen (orange, ditto) badly need replacing and we had planned to pay for this ourselves from his salary and my student funds (I'm a law p/g studying to be a barrister. Unfortunately he was made redundant a couple of months ago and can't contribute and my funding has changed, making it difficult for me too. The mortgage-provider isn't very helpful, even though the flat is empty and ready for sale as soon as the works are finished. What kind of financial option would enable us to replace the bathroom and kitchen so as to get the best price for the flat - a remortgage? a bridging loan? Any funds will be repaid immediately the flat is sold. BTW he has one CCJ - the insurers on our credit card refused to pay out on the - policy and the cc provider went to court - although we hope to have this set aside once our solicitor has proven that the insurers should have settled the claim.
Categories: Bad credit, Secured loans
Posted on 12/01/2008
Hi, help needed urgently please. Our fixed rate with mortgage express ends at the end of March 2008, which consists of a balance of £138,000 interest only and we have a secured loan with yesloans and mortgages. To clear this one will cost approximately £32,000. We are really struggling to keep up with payments, BUT have NOT missed or been late.
However we have missed and been late with nearly every other bill that comes in (no CCJs as yet). Are we going to have real problems getting another sub-prime self certified mortgage? Any advice would be most helpful please.
Categories: Bad credit, Secured loans
Posted on 03/01/2008
We made the mistake of taking a homeowner loan out against our property and it's proving quite expensive. I want to put this, plus the credit cards into one mortgage payment. Our house is worth approx £115,000 and we would need a total mortgage of £101,000. Abby won't do it due to it being over 85%. What are my options?
Categories: Remortgaging, Secured loans
Posted on 29/10/2007
Please can you Help. We have a £85,000 mortgage with the Abbey, fixed for another 6 months, and took out a loan for 25,000 with First Plus, what a mistake, to pay off credit cards etc. We now have to move with my husbands job. We can re-mortgage this house buy to let value of house 290,000 and get another mortgage, the cost of the new house is 250,000. I have spoken to a broker he says we can do both but will charge us £4,500 for this. Should we really be paying that sort of fee? please help
Categories: Buy-to-let, Remortgaging, Secured loans
Posted on 13/10/2007
Is it possible to take out a secure loan on an interest only mortgage?
Categories: Secured loans
Posted on 03/08/2007
I need to borrow some money roughly, £10,000 to do some home improvements on my property that i own outright (value around £190,000). I am 48 so not sure if i should take out a secured or unsecured loan as I'm on a...
Categories: Remortgaging, Secured loans, Self-certification
Posted on 30/07/2007
We have a £65,000 mortgage on a property worth around £125,000. We also have a secured loan for a further £65,000 which is £630 per month. Would it be in our interest to re-mortgage rather than pay this ever...
Categories: Remortgaging, Secured loans
Posted on 24/07/2007
I have just finished building a house. I borrowed £94,000 against the land value which I got in a lump sum before I started building. To date I have spent approx £150k and the house is finished - it has recently been...
Categories: Remortgaging, Secured loans
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.