Mortgages are usually needed for those people who wish to own their own homes. At some point in a person’s life, an individual will have to go through the process of acquiring one, and then pay the regular instalments that are associated with it. However, when an individual gets older they may seek the comfort of a nursing home, but as these can be expensive they could struggle to keep up with the payments. In previous years this has caused many elderly people to undergo the ordeal of selling their family home in a bid to keep up with these payments. The process of selling the family home could potentially cause some indignity as house that they have worked for all their life is being sold merely to provide them with the care that they so rightly deserve.

There are rumours that this no longer has to be the case thanks to the possibility of a new government scheme. This new scheme has not as of yet been decided upon, but it aims to provide elderly people with a “mortgage” on a temporary basis. The idea is that elderly people will provided with a loan that will only be claimed back after they die. This will allow elderly people to have a relatively care free life, whilst having the added benefit of providing jobs for nurses who are interested in looking after people in their own homes. Whilst this scheme appears to be a good idea, it has come under some criticism. It is reported that the children of the elderly people who are interested in this idea may not be able to inherit their parent’s house. This is obviously a major drawback of the scheme, as these government “mortgage loans” that could be provided are taken out against an individuals home. But there are some other benefits that have not been looked at. For example, this scheme has the potential to save the taxpayers upwards of a billion pounds. This is a major plus point of the scheme, which aims to counter the fact that some people may not be able to inherit their homes because of it. Even if people have missed out on the possibility of inheriting their parent’s house, they can pay back the loan at a much cheaper rate after they die. But ultimately what must be mentioned is that this scheme is currently just an idea and has not yet been passed.