A UK mutual lender is to launch a novel new mortgage product onto the market.
The Kent Reliance Building Society is planning to offer a mortgage whereby the homeowner only ever pays the interest on the amount loaned, but need never pay back the full amount. Instead, the actual mortgage debt can be left to the homeowner’s children or even to friends.
The controversial model does have its adherents in countries such as Switzerland, but it will be the first such mortgage to be offered in the UK. Some observers have been quick to dub the offer ‘selfish’, but the deal would also enable much of the tax on an inherited estate to be avoided. However the inheritants of a property will still face the task of paying off the lump sum.
The building society told the BBC that all applicants for the product will be carefully assessed.