Writing about 'rightsizing' what are borrowers doing to get round the downsize/rightsize issue

I have certainly seen a rise in borrowers looking to release more for home improvements via a further advance or remortgage. They are looking to do this to improve their current property to include the features they wanted from their next home, but due to the current market demand they are unable to find a suitable property, or lose out to the high demand of buyers bidding on the same property or simply can't afford the new house prices. With the huge increase in property values, borrowers are finding they are able to borrow more against the increased property value to complete these home improvements. Second charges and bridging loans are an option for additional borrowing once further advances and remortgages have been ruled out. Second charges and bridging loans are an expensive form of borrowing, and usually there is a better solution which should always be explored with an experienced mortgage broker.

Great care should be taken before committing to a second charge or bridge, as these types of loans come at a higher rate than mainstream lending and often have higher fees as well. Whilst they do provide a solution to financing home improvements, consideration should be given to what the additional monthly payments are going to be and also whether you will be able to afford to remortgage the entire amount of secured borrowing when it comes to switching products.

I've definitely seen more enquiries for further advances and remortgages to draw additional funds out for home improvements. The problem, however, that some of these clients are seeing is how hard it is to find builders and tradespeople who are available to complete the work. In addition, some clients are being put off by the increasing costs of this work. I've had two clients who applied for further advances but while it was being processed the costs were spiralling so much that they eventually decided against doing the work and put the project on hold for a couple of years.

With a shortage of housing stock in most areas I think people are looking again at how they achieve their dream home: if you can't buy it, can you create it? Many have simply been unable to find the property they want, or certainly at a price they can afford, so have started to look at what changes they can make to their current home; extensions, luxury kitchens, home offices at the bottom of the garden, loft conversions to create master suites, even major internal renovations with walls coming down and staircases being moved are considerations that many wouldn't have been entertaining previously, but will now - inspired by DIY SOS, Grand Designs and George Clarke among others. These types of radical changes to the living space don't come cheap, so additional borrowing in the form of remortgages, further advances, or second charges are common to make these dreams a reality. Guidance that I give to all my clients looking to do this type of work is to overestimate everything. It's far easier to borrow more than you need and then pay it back to the lender at the end of the project, than to run out of funds halfway through and have to go back cap-in-hand to request additional funds (to which the answer could well be "no").