Nine years ago, Sheila Jones borrowed £44,000 from HBoS bank. Now it is demanding an astonishing £290,000 to clear her loan and she must decide between losing her home or staying on and watching it crumble around her.

She is among thousands of homeowners saddled with controversial shared appreciation mortgages.

While one bank behind the deals - Barclays - has offered a small ray of hope to the worst-affected of its Sam customers, HBoS simply refuses to budge.

But such maintenance costs are getting harder to meet. Sheila, a widow in her seventies, has little income besides her State pension and gets by only with help from her son and daughter, Nicholas, 46, and Amanda, 43.

Financial Mail -07/10/2007 -Page26 and 27

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