Homeless

My widowed mother (who is 72) has a SAM with Royal Bank of Scotland. She is in a position where she cannot move because she simply will not have enough equity to buy elsewhere. She lives in the SE of England and property prices have risen well beyond her original house valuation.

I also find it rather galling that BoS say you can opt out by paying off the loan. To do this she would have to make herself homeless. She simply does not have enough savings to pay back the loan plus the accured equity. I belive she is looking at paying around Ł145,000 for a Ł40,000 loan. I have calculated that if she trys to sell she will be left with around Ł155,000 which would not buy her a shoe box in our area. Also she will be subjected to paying for the valuation, bank charges and moving fees

I wonder if you can also provide me with some advice. Is the redemption fee based on the valuation or the actual selling price? I am concerned that it is in the Bank's interest to overvalue - I note from the paperwork that they also choose the valuer!.