Ambition that could put your home at risk
Apparently sending a child to a fee-paying secondary school could cost as much as £140,000 – not the kind of money most people have lying around.
That’s why mortgage firm Charcol.co.uk is suggesting parents who long to see their little darlings enjoy a private education, but don’t have the income to finance it, should consider remortgaging to free up the cash.
Charcol says this is a better option than using credit cards, which is certainly true – although I can’t imagine many people would qualify for a card with a credit limit high enough to allow this kind of spending.
It maintains remortgaging is also better than other kinds of loans, but I’m not so sure about this.
The interest rate might be lower, but you will be repaying the money over a far longer period, making it more expensive in the long run.
Charcol’s Katie Tucker says: “For many parents it is likely that in the last few years the value of their house will have risen, and the value of their mortgage will have gone down. This, therefore, presents an opportunity to increase their mortgage as a means of releasing the cash.”
She makes it sound so easy, but remortgaging to release cash can be a risky business.
The more you borrow against your home, the more you have to pay back – and the greater the likelihood you’ll end up in difficulties if your finances take a downturn.
If the worst comes to the worst, you could lose your home.
Is that a price worth paying for a few years of private education? I don’t think so.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
It’s because of parents like these who sned their kids to private schools that our state schools are in such amess. If everyone went to state school, the government would have to sort them out - the rich parents wouldn’t put up with our sorry excuse for an education system.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Anyone stupid enough to get into that much debt just to send little Harvey and Rosie to a posh school deserves to lose their house.