Spray Foam, Secured Loans and Equity Release: What You Need to Know

Most of the coverage about spray foam and borrowing focuses on mortgages. But if you’re a homeowner thinking about a secured loan, a second-charge mortgage or — especially — equity release, spray foam in the loft can affect you just as much, and in the case of equity release, more. Here’s the full picture, and what you can realistically do about it.

We are not regulated to give mortgage advice. What follows is general information about how these products interact with spray foam, drawn from published research — for advice on your own borrowing, speak to a regulated adviser.

Why secured lending is affected at all

A secured loan — whether it’s a homeowner loan, a second-charge mortgage behind your existing mortgage, or a lifetime mortgage for equity release — uses your home as security. Before lending, the provider values that security, usually through the same kind of valuation a mortgage lender uses.

And that’s where spray foam bites. The valuer’s job is to confirm the property is sound security for the money. In a loft with spray foam, the roof timbers are covered: they can’t be seen, and they can’t be tested. A roof whose condition cannot be verified is a question mark on the valuation — and lenders deal with question marks by reducing the valuation, adding conditions, or declining the property as security altogether. It is the same mechanism that affects mortgages, applied to a different product.

It’s worth being precise about what this is and isn’t: lenders are not declining because damage has been proven in your home. They’re declining because the condition of the roof is unknown — and an unknown can’t be priced.

Equity release: the hardest hit of all

In BBC research from November 2024, cited in the House of Commons Library’s briefing on spray foam, all equity release lenders surveyed said they would not lend against homes with spray foam roof insulation. And the wider position, as the HomeOwners Alliance puts it: only ~25% of mortgage lenders, and no equity release providers, will lend where spray foam was installed as a retrofit.

Why is equity release stricter than ordinary mortgages? It comes down to how the product works. With a lifetime mortgage there are usually no monthly repayments — the lender gets its money back when the home is eventually sold, often decades later. That makes the long-term condition of the property everything: the house is the repayment plan. A roof that can’t be verified today is a risk the provider would have to carry for twenty or thirty years, with no opportunity to reassess. Faced with that, the surveyed providers have simply said no.

This lands hardest on the people least able to shrug it off: older homeowners who had foam installed years ago — often sold on warmth and energy savings — and who now find the equity in their home harder to reach precisely when they planned to use it.

It is not automatically hopeless

Three things stop this being a counsel of despair.

First, the government’s position (via the Commons Library briefing) is that spray foam which was correctly installed to the relevant standards should not necessitate removal or obstruct mortgage access. The problem, in many cases, is not the foam itself but the absence of evidence about it.

Second, lender positions change. The figures above are from published research at a point in time; positions differ between lenders and move as the industry responds. That cuts both ways — which is exactly why the practical question is usually not which lender, but whether your roof can be shown to be sound.

Third, there are two well-trodden routes forward, and which one applies depends entirely on your home — every home, and every installation, is different.

Route one: evidence, not removal

If your installation was done properly, what’s missing may simply be proof. That means gathering what exists — installation certificates, product specifications, details of the installer — and, where the paperwork is thin, obtaining an independent professional assessment of the roof’s condition. RICS and the Property Care Association both recommend exactly this before making any decisions. An independent assessment considers what type of foam is present (open-cell or closed-cell behave very differently), how it was applied, and what condition the visible timbers and ventilation are in. For some homes, that assessment plus the paperwork turns “unknown” into “documented” — and a documented roof is a conversation a lender can have.

Route two: removal — done properly, with sign-off

Where the installation can’t be evidenced, was poorly applied, or has caused problems, removal may genuinely be the right answer. But here’s the part many homeowners only learn afterwards: removal with nothing to show for it solves very little. What a future valuer needs is evidence that the foam was removed properly and the roof beneath it is sound. That means independent inspection of the completed work and a documentation pack — the paperwork is as much the product as the removal itself. (It’s also worth knowing there is no government financial assistance for removal, confirmed in March 2025, so getting it right first time matters — see our guide to removal costs.)

What we’d tell a friend

Don’t start with the loan application; start with the roof. Find out what’s actually up there, what evidence exists, and whether removal is even needed — the government’s own position says correctly installed foam shouldn’t need to come out. If removal is needed, use vetted specialists, insist on independent sign-off, and keep every piece of paper. Then have the borrowing conversation, with a regulated adviser, from a position of knowledge rather than hope. (Remortgaging rather than a new loan? See our remortgage guide; if you’ve already had a decline, start here.)

That first step — understanding what’s in your loft and what your options are — is exactly what we do, for free, with no obligation and no pressure. We don’t carry out removals ourselves, so you’ll get a straight answer either way.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get equity release with spray foam in the loft? In the most recent published research, every equity release lender surveyed declined homes with spray foam roof insulation. The routes homeowners generally explore are evidencing a sound, correctly installed roof, or properly documented removal. Positions change over time — check the current position with a regulated adviser.

Will a secured loan lender accept spray foam? Some may, depending on the installation and the evidence available; many will not. Lenders’ positions differ and change — documentation of the roof’s condition is what moves the conversation.

Does removing the foam guarantee approval? No one can guarantee a lending decision. What properly documented removal does is take the roof question off the table — which is the part spray foam put there.

Is my home worth less because of spray foam? Not automatically. Valuation outcomes vary from no effect to significant reductions depending on the installation, the evidence, and the individual valuer — another reason an independent assessment is the sensible first step.

Worried about spray foam problems in your home? Call us free on 0800 494 7163 or leave a message about your situation and we will give you the advice you need to resolve it — and a full understanding of the guidance around spray foam and how it applies to your home. We are a free, independent advisory service and we carry out no removals ourselves.