A real-estate expert suggested yesterday that Taiwan should treat schemes that help the elderly live off the equity built up in their houses as commercial products rather than social welfare benefits to ensure the sustainability of the system.
At a seminar on the subject yesterday, Chang Chin-oh (張金鶚), a professor in the Department of Land Economics at National Chengchi University, advocated using reverse mortgages and sale/leasebacks to help senior citizens who have low incomes but a house of their own boost their disposable income.
At present, government initiatives to launch such financing plans are handled by the Ministry of the Interior, which treats them as pensions, with the government providing most of the financing.
Chang said that loans are by definition financial products and involve managing flows of money, meaning that the financial authorities should be in charge of them. He added that reverse mortgages should be commercialized rather than arranged by the government.
Reverse mortgages are simply loans made to a homeowner against the property’s equity. The money can be released in one lump sum or in multiple payments and is repaid when the property is sold or refinanced by the borrower’s heirs after he or she dies.
The sale/leaseback option would allow the elderly to sell their homes to insurance firms, which in turn offer the seniors annuities based on the value of their properties while still allowing them to reside in their own homes as tenants.
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