In financial jargon, the word Equity means the difference between the market value of your home and the debts raised against it. In other words, it is the unencumbered value of your home that is known as equity. The concept of equity is important for a homeowner since a loan can be raised against the equity in your home. Many lenders offer a loan to value ratio of eighty per cent only. It means that if your home has a value of £150,000, you can take a loan upto £120,000.

The credit rating that you have at the time of taking loan is very important. A good credit rating implies that your past conduct in the financial transactions was trustworthy and, therefore, lenders are likely to offer you a low rate of interest. By releasing the equity in your home, you can borrow upto £250,000. People usually take loan against equity only when they have large monetary requirements.

How borrowers are advantageously placed when taking secured loans?

In the past few years, the value of an average home in the UK has increased manifold. This reflects in the prevailing home prices; an average home costing more than £200,000 in the UK. The higher the price, the higher will be the equity in your home. Thus, the homeowners who want to borrow money are obviously better situated than those who are living on rent. In normal course, lenders give 80 per cent of equity in your home as a loan but this is not a fixed criterion and you may get more or less depending upon individual financial circumstances.

Bad credit loans and credit reference agencies

Secured loans are also available to those people who are having a bad credit rating. The credit rating is a numerical figure that is attributed to every borrower on the basis of his past conduct in the loan market. There are several credit reference agencies in the UK that gather information from various sources like the electoral roll, county court judgements and financial institutions. On the basis of the information collected, these agencies give a credit rating to every borrower. Lenders check credit rating to their satisfaction before sanctioning any loan to the borrowers.

Bad credit loans are available in two ways – by providing a security or without it. However, lenders prefer to give bad credit loans only to those borrowers who can provide a security. This is usually done to cover the risk involved in giving loans to people who have dubious credit record.