An estimated 250,000 UK homes have spray foam insulation that has made them difficult or impossible to mortgage or release equity against. A new solution from lender LiveMore changes that picture, valuing properties on the basis that the foam has been professionally removed — with no upfront cost to the homeowner. If you were turned away before, it may be worth checking again.
Spray foam insulation was installed in hundreds of thousands of UK homes during the government’s Green Homes Grant scheme, which ran between 2020 and 2021. The scheme offered grants to improve energy efficiency, and spray foam — applied to roof timbers, walls and joists — was one of the covered measures. At the time, it seemed like a straightforward win: improved insulation, government-funded.
The problems emerged later. Spray foam applied to roof timbers can trap moisture, preventing natural drying and creating conditions for rot and damp. Surveyors began flagging spray-foam properties as difficult to value accurately because the foam prevents inspection of the underlying timber. Lenders followed, either declining to lend on affected properties or requiring removal before they would proceed. Estate agents found spray-foam homes harder to sell, with buyers put off by the survey implications.
For older homeowners who had the foam installed in good faith and were now looking to release equity to fund retirement, home improvements, or care costs, the situation created a genuine blockage. Properties that had appreciated substantially in value were effectively unlendable in their current state, and the cost of professional foam removal — which can run to several thousand pounds — was itself a barrier for people on fixed incomes.
LiveMore, a specialist later-life lender, has launched a mortgage option that directly addresses the spray foam impasse. Under the new approach, the property is valued on the assumption that the spray foam has already been professionally removed — rather than in its current state. Removal is arranged through LiveMore’s partner, Verified Building Services, with no upfront cost to the homeowner.
The removal itself is carried out before the mortgage completes, with the cost incorporated into the lending arrangement rather than requiring the homeowner to fund it out of pocket in advance. This removes the two barriers that have historically blocked spray-foam homeowners from accessing later-life lending: the inability to get a satisfactory valuation, and the cost of removal.
LiveMore already had a partial solution in this area, introduced in 2023, which required homeowners to arrange and fund their own removal within a set timeframe. The 2026 version goes further by removing the upfront cost barrier and taking responsibility for coordinating the removal process, making it more accessible for homeowners who could not afford or organise the removal independently.
For homeowners who were declined for equity release — or who did not apply because they knew spray foam was likely to be a problem — this development is worth following up directly. The product is specific to LiveMore and its criteria, so eligibility will depend on the individual property, the type and extent of foam present, and the homeowner’s age and equity position. Not every affected property will qualify, but a meaningful number that previously had no route to later-life lending now do.
If you had spray foam installed under the Green Homes Grant, or if a survey has previously flagged it as a concern, the practical next step is to find out whether your specific property and circumstances would qualify under this type of arrangement. That begins with a property eligibility check rather than a full application.
“For homeowners who were told equity release was off the table because of spray foam, the answer to that question has changed. It’s worth asking again.”
The spray foam issue is one of a number of property characteristics — alongside non-standard construction types, short leaseholds, and certain listed building designations — that can create lending complications for older homeowners trying to access their property wealth. In each case, the problem is not necessarily the property itself but the way standard valuation and lending criteria interact with features that fall outside the mainstream.
The fact that a specialist lender has now built a specific product around the spray foam problem is a useful reminder that criteria in the later-life lending market continue to evolve. A homeowner who checked their eligibility two or three years ago and was turned away may find that the market has moved on.
If spray foam insulation has held up your plans before, it might not any more — find out if your property could now be eligible.
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