I paid £10,000 for spray foam insulation – now I have to pay £7,000 to remove it

Alison Splatt’s late husband David had been diagnosed with a heart condition when he was a child, but apart from getting a bit breathless at times, it did not really affect him. However, due to it putting him at increased risk of health conditions such as a stroke, he was put on blood thinners. One of the side effects of the medicine for David was often feeling cold. Shorts “Before that, David worked as a gas engineer and never felt the cold, but once he started on this new blood thinner, he really felt it,” recalled Alison, 64, who is a nurse. “That’s when we decided to have spray foam insulation fitted in our home to make it warmer and we installed it in good faith. We had never heard of any issues with spray foam at that point and when something is included in government grants, you expect it to be trustworthy.” Spray foam is a form of insulation typically used in roofs, lofts and attics. It was included in the Government’s Green Homes grant scheme, which closed in 2022. Under the scheme, the Government offered to cover up to two-thirds of the cost of works to improve energy ratings in homes. It is estimated that around 250,000 homes may have had spray foam installed. Unfortunately, many mortgage lenders are now reluctant to offer loans on properties with spray foam due to concerns about poor insulation, roof damage and long-term structural risks. Many homeowners are not even aware of the issue until they try to move or remortgage. They then find themselves trapped in homes that they are unable to easily sell or access equity in. Alison told The i Paper how she and her husband did not qualify for the Government funding for the spray foam insulation because they were not on a low income, so they ended up paying £10,000 from their own money to have it installed in their four-bedroom detached home in Milton Keynes. “As well as trying to make our home warmer for David, we were future-proofing it,” explained Alison. “We knew energy bills were only going to increase so we thought it was a good way to prepare for that and would be beneficial long-term. “We had it fitted around five years ago costing about £10,000 and insulation-wise, it has been brilliant and has definitely made the home a lot warmer.” Tragically, David died suddenly two years ago. Alison, who was with David for 21 years, has rheumatoid arthritis and decided she wanted to have some work done on the house to prepare for when her mobility would be affected. She tried to release some equity from the home to have the work carried out – and it was only then she realised the problems the foam could cause. “I wanted to get ahead of my worsening mobility by installing a shower room downstairs and making other adaptations so I can stay here and look after myself,” she said. “I don’t want to leave, but I need money to make the changes. “As well as putting in a downstairs shower, I wanted to have a door put into the lounge and dining room, which currently has an archway, to make it into two rooms in case I need a bedroom downstairs in the future. “I also wanted to pay off outstanding loans and credit cards, so I decided to release £50,000 of equity from the home. That is when I first realised there was a problem with the house having spray foam.” Alison went through a broker to try and get the equity release – but was met with several rejections. “By this time, I had seen the news reports about problems with spray foam. But because there are two types, the issue is more to do with the closed cell type of foam, as that goes hard after it is installed. “We had the open cell type fitted, which stays almost like foam and is springy, and we had vents installed too. But despite this, lenders wouldn’t contemplate lending me the money. “They said that because it doesn’t allow the heat to escape through the roof, you can get condensation in the attic and that can lead to the rotting of the joists and the structure of the roof and you could end up having to have the whole roof replaced, which would be very costly. “I was gobsmacked. All we wanted to do was to make our home warmer. We didn’t realise it would trap me in a house I soon wouldn’t be able to use.” Luckily for Alison, specialist mortgage lender LiveMore, which is for borrowers aged over 40 with complex finances, were able to help with an equity release product which has been specifically developed for properties with spray foam insulation. It means homeowners can secure a mortgage based on the property’s value once the insulation has been removed, with the removal handled as part of the process and prior to the completion of the mortgage. Alison is now hoping to have the spray foam removed in the coming weeks and then she will be able to receive the money to carry out the adaptations to her home. “We paid £10,000 to have this spray foam installed – but now I have to pay another £7,000 to have it removed,” she said. “It is infuriating, especially as we did it in good faith as we knew the Government was funding such schemes, so thought everything must be fine. “I have no choice but to have it removed as if I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be able to sell my house in the future because no one would be able to get a mortgage on it.” Alison says she has no choice but to pay to have the spray foam removed as otherwise, she’ll struggle to sell her house in the future Simon Webb, managing director of finance and capital markets at LiveMore, said: “Alison is the most recent example of someone who did everything right – and was then left trapped in her home without any flexibility to release equity in her own property due to the Government endorsed initiative. “They installed spray foam in good faith and she has then had to navigate the consequences to be able to refit her house to accommodate her illness. “We need to ensure that people are not trapped in their homes, unable to move or release equity when they need it most, which is why we have kickstarted our service to be able to manage this for people and help them move on with their lives.” A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We are working with industry to address the issues some homeowners with spray foam insulation have faced and most lenders now consider applications on a case-by-case basis.”