Secured loans used to be seen as a last resort for borrowers

Any loan should be approached with care. However, there are circumstances when secured loans can make a lot of sense for helping out with finances for home owners.

If you need a loan, there are many ways to borrow. One of the best ways can be simply to increase your mortgage.

The conventional route to borrowing for shorter-life items, such as cars or holidays, is an unsecured loan as there is no risk to your home if something goes wrong and you cannot repay the debt.However, if neither of these methods of borrowing is suitable or available for you, it can pay to consider secured loans.

Many people have opted to lock themselves into fixed-rate mortgages - a sensible move, as interest rates have been rising. However, these loans may not allow further borrowing without additional fees and charges.

In some cases, people locked into these loans who need to borrow more have found they must redeem the whole loan and remortgage, thereby incurring early repayment penalties as well.Research has shown that more than 450,000 applicants have been turned down by mortgage lenders in the past six months, as interest rate rises have been introduced.

Fortunately at the same time, rising house prices have meant that many people may now have equity in their home, and if they do not need to move home, a secured loan could be an ideal way to release cash, particularly as secured loans can be cheaper than unsecured loans and other forms of borrowing.

One of the main advantages of a secured loan is that payments can be scheduled for as long as 25 years to make monthly payments smaller.

Secured loans can also be helpful for those who have County Court Judgments against them.

This is because Lenders are usually more willing to grant secured loans to those with a poor credit history, as the loan is backed by the property.

A secured loan may also be useful for consolidating debts

Secured loan guidlines...

If you don't repay the debt, your house could be at risk.

Rates are generally variable meaning the payments will increase if bank rates go up.

Look around for the best rates.

If you have financial problems, talk to a credit counselling service as soon as possible.