www.iva.co.uk

I am starting my 5th year and will soon be asked to have my house valued for equity release. My question is do I have to do this knowing full well that I won't be able to remortgage or secure any lending on the house in this current climate. Will Grant Thornton just accept a 12 month extension in lieu? I don't really want to go through all that just to have the embarrasment of being declined. Thank you.

I am afraid that you do have to run the gauntlet and get refusals to remortgage, as this is what is required in the terms agreed in the IVA.

Also, if you have a de minimis clause, they need to establish if the equity is sufficient to trigger an extension. Many arrangements forego an extension if the equity is less than £5,000.

It's a fairly painless process to get a valuation and depending on the outcome of that decides the next step as Foggy say if less that 5k equity in some IVA proposals that will be the end of the matter and the property will be excluded.

Get the property valued and pay the agent for it. This is the easiest way and the agent can then give you a proper valuation. This will let you know whether or not you would even need to consider raising equity and possibly it may not be the case.

Try and avoid applying for remortgages and speak to GT if you need to raise equity. Refusals will damage your credit file going forward so if you can prevent any searches being carried out aginst you this would be a help.