What is negative equity?
Negative equity is the term commonly used to describe the situation of having a home that is worth less than your mortgage. The Quarterly Bulletin from the Bank of England has revealed that around 7%-11% of UK homeowners with a mortgage were in negative equity in the first three months of this year, owing more to their lender than their home was worth.
This works out to between 700,000 and 1.1 million householders in negative equity
Solutions
Help from your lender
ï,§ Contact your lender and ask if there are any new mortgage products to help with negative equity on your current home but which can be incorporated into a new mortgage product in the home you wish to move to. Some lenders may have packages for their existing borrowers but usually only if you have a good payment record. This is not necessarily a cheap option as the interest rate may be higher with the new product and there is likely to be an Arrangement Fee. Sustainability of maintaining mortgage payments on your new home needs careful consideration – payments will be higher than normal due to the extra mortgage from initial property being included.
Note: You will need to pay solicitors, estate agent fees and the costs of moving.
ï,§ Some lenders may agree to accept less than the full amount of the shortfall debt by securing part of the debt on a new property as part of your mortgage and writing off the rest.
ï,§ Some schemes ask for a guarantor on the new loan (such as a relative) and may want the loan secured on their home as well as your own. Be very careful, the Guarantor’s house would be at risk if you cannot make the payments.
ï,§ You may be able to clear the negative equity by obtaining an unsecured loan from your bank or building society. This will probably be more expensive than a secured loan because a higher rate of interest is usually charged, but an unsecured loan does not put your new house at risk. The loan may also be over a shorter period which would mean the monthly payments are likely to be higher.
ï,§ A limited number of lenders may run schemes that offer assistance to all borrowers. So you can apply even if your mortgage is with a different lender. Shop around high street banks and building societies and check with a good mortgage broker
Renting out your home
ï,§ Another option is renting out your house with your lender’s permission. Some lenders add an extra percentage on to the mortgage interest rate for allowing you to rent out the property. You could ask them to waive this if it will cause you hardship. You also need to ensure your buildings and contents insurance is adequate and is designed for a let property.
Note: You will need to cover Tenant Finding Fees, Management Fees, Gas & Electric Tests, all Maintenance and Mortgage Payments (even when the property is empty)
Selling your home
ï,§ The Mortgage Conduct of Business Rules say that a lender must “deal fairly” with anyone in arrears. It also says the lender must: “give consideration to the customer being allowed to remain in possession to effect a sale”. This means that if you cannot afford to stay in the house, the lender must look seriously at allowing you to sell the house yourself whilst you are still living there.
ï,§ Talk to your lender about selling your home yourself. Homeowners in this situation have no choice but to try and sell at full market value as they often cannot afford to negotiate on sale price as they have to cover the redemption mortgage costs, legals and estate agency fees associated with selling the property. This can often reduce the chance of a sale on the open market as quite often prospective purchasers will make ‘offers’ on a property below the asking price.
ï,§ You may have to prove to your lender that a sale is the last resort and the sale is in everyone’s financial interest.
ï,§ Provide your lender with full information about your financial circumstances.
ï,§ You will need evidence from several independent estate agents that you have found the best sale price for your home.
ï,§ The lender may ask you to sign an extra agreement saying how you will repay the shortfall debt.
ï,§ Consider handing the keys in and making an arrangement to clear the shortfall once the house is sold by your lender:-
a) This is only an option if you do not want a new mortgage in the near future as your details will be on the Mortgage Possessions Register for six years.
b) You could also face potential problems if you need rehousing by the council as they could treat you as having made yourself homeless voluntarily.
Note: You will still be liable for the regular mortgage payments until the house is sold. You will also be liable for interest charges, costs for estate agents, legal fees, repairs and insuring the building.
Personal Loan
ï,§ Borrow the amount needed to clear the shortfall from another source such as a personal loan, savings or from a friend/relative.
Existing Insurance Policies
ï,§ If you have an endowment mortgage you could check with an independent financial adviser to see if the value of the endowment could be off-set against the negative equity. If you have the means, payments on an endowment policy or other investment scheme could be increased to build up enough cover to pay off the negative equity when the house is sold.
ï,§ Get legal advice about the terms of any Mortgage Indemnity Insurance policy you may have on the mortgage.
ï,§ If you have an endowment mortgage it may be worth discussing with your lender the implications of swapping to a repayment mortgage. The advantage of doing this is that with a repayment mortgage you would be paying part capital and part interest every month. This would mean you actually reduce the balance you owe on the mortgage over time and therefore reduce your negative equity.
ï,§ If you have the means, payments on an endowment policy or other investment scheme could be increased to build up enough cover to pay off the negative equity when the house is sold. You could check the surrender terms of any investments you already have. Have any policy valued both by the insurance company and second hand policy brokers
ï,§ Be very careful to get independent financial advice when considering changing from an endowment to a repayment mortgage. You may lose out on payments you have made on your endowment if you surrender the policy early on, as it may not be worth as much as you have paid in.
ï,§ It is also possible with a repayment mortgage to make extra lump sum payments off the mortgage which reduce the balance owing. You have to be careful that the lender accepts the payments off the capital balance and not just as advance payments off your monthly instalments. Check this with your lender.
ï,§ If you want to move because you need more space, look at whether you can convert your loft or build an extension. In this way you may be able to stay in your home until house prices improve.
What can I do if my lender is unhelpful?
ï,§ If your lender is unhelpful you could consider making a complaint to their head office. In some cases, the Financial Ombudsman Service has taken up complaints for borrowers. An example of this is if a lender has refused permission for you to sell the property for an offer that is less than the mortgage, but then they have gone on to sell the house themselves for a lot less after repossession.
ï,§ From October 31st 2004 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has taken over the regulation of mortgage lending and problems with existing mortgages. This applies to all mortgages where the lender had a first charge over the property and at least 40% of the property is occupied by you and/or your immediate family. It does not apply to secured loans regulated by the Consumer Credit Act.
ï,§ Note: The FSA does not regulate Buy to Let Mortgages and as such lenders of Buy to Let Mortgages may not be as compliant to providing alternative financial arrangements to faciliate their clients in negative equity.
Sell Direct to an Investor or Property Buying Company
An Investor or Property Buying Company can arrange to take over the Mortgage on a property in negative equity. The reason this can be done is that the legal contracts stipulate an agreed Sale Price within a specific timescale sometime in the future. This enables the Property Buying Company or Investor to take on the property as a long term investment. The risk involved could be that the property stagnates or decreases in value over the long term but generally the risk is minimal as the property is likely to increase in value over time. All financial commitments pertaining to the property become the responsibility of the Property Buying Company or Investor and eliminates the worry of future house price movements. The benefits to the Homeowner are:
ï,§ they are free from any future financial obligations regarding the property
ï,§ they can leave the property and either rent or buy another property
ï,§ it provides an immediate solution without the traditional costs of selling the property, as many of the Property Buying Companies/Investors do not charge commission as an estate agent would
ï,§ a secure offer is made on your property and the transaction is generally completed within 6 weeks. Once it reaches a positive equity situation, the house purchase transaction is completed.
Useful Addresses
Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR,
Tel: 0845 080 1800
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Financial Services Authority
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London E14 5HS
Tel: 0845 606 1234
http://www.fsa.gov.uk
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