Spry Finance, the new retail division of Seniors Money Mortgages DAC, is re-opening to new applicants.
Its role is to provide information and guidance to those thinking of applying for a Lifetime Loan. The loan itself will then be provided by the lending division, Seniors Money.
Lifetime Loans allow older homeowners (60+ in the case of Spry Finance) to borrow against the value they have built up in their property without the need to sell it, trade down, or make monthly repayments. Instead, interest is added to the loan balance, which grows over time, and the loan is not repayable until after the borrower dies or moves out of the property.
Older homeowners are often 'asset-rich' but ‘cash-poor’ and would not have access to a traditional re-mortgage product due to their age. A Lifetime Loan enables them to borrow against the value of their home while still retaining 100% ownership of it and without having to move out of it.
Derek Handley, Director, Spry Finance, said: "Spry will take time to get to know people and their individual circumstances and to help them figure out whether or not a Lifetime Loan is a suitable solution for your particular situation. If, after assessment, a Lifetime Loan doesn’t look like a suitable option then we’ll let the applicant know – as we already have done in several instances during our recent pilot scheme."
Spry Finance believes that because this credit option hasn’t been available in Ireland for the last number of years, there is a pent-up demand in addition to a growing underlying demand, as the number of over 60s in the population continues to grow.
