The firm is one of the few on the Livemore panel to advise on its Property+ lifetime mortgage, which was launched with a limited rollout in May.
With the product, homeowners are able to release equity from their property before any spray foam is removed as long as they can provide a quote to say a removal will be done within 90 days of the mortgage completing.
The lender will give clients the money to cover the removal as well as the loan.
Livemore will also consider homes that are in close proximity to a commercial property, on flood zones, have service charge or ground rents applied and are non-standard construction types.
Typically, people with non-standard properties are restricted from getting equity release.
Dan Osman (pictured), head of later life lending at UK Moneyman, said: “We’ve always tried to offer solutions for everyone and working alongside Livemore has been quite key to this. They’re a new lender and they’re really responsive to problems in the market and finding a solution.”
Osman said the partnership with the lender worked really well for UK Moneyman, as the firm didn’t just look at equity release, but retirement mortgages and standard lending.
Turning away business
Osman said before the product was launched, his firm had been referring clients who had spray foam installed to a specialist legal company to try and recover some of the cost from the installers, although he acknowledged that it “probably wasn’t their [installer’s] fault”.
Clients were also referred to companies that specialise in removals and are represented by the Property Care Association.
He said: “What’s happened an awful lot is people had this spray foam installed using the Green Homes schemes or privately, then find whether it’s a normal mortgage or equity release, they cannot release funds from their house. In a lot of cases, they don’t have money to have it removed.”
Osman commended Livemore for being a lender that sought to find solutions for borrowers and said while it was not the cheapest option, it was often that one that accepted complex circumstances. He also said he hoped more lenders would follow in its footsteps and open up to complex property types.
He said: “It’s a really big deal for Livemore to say as long as clients have a quote from a reputable contractor to remove the spray foam, that they can submit with the application and agree to have the work completed within 90 days of the mortgage completing, they will give the equity release and money to pay for the removal. They then ask for confirmation in terms of a paid invoice within 90 days of completion.”
Osman said he had turned away 15 to 20 clients in the last six to 12 months as they were not able to get the equity release they needed.
“We’re going back over those clients and telling them there might be a solution, which is obviously subject to underwriting, but it’s a way forward,” he added.
