Northern Rock’s portfolio accounts for a great deal of the UK mortgage market, however after being embroiled in the global credit crunch problems has meant they were unable to borrow money to fund their business practices, hence the bail out by the UK’s main bank.

The portfolio of lifetime mortgages prior to the sale to JP Morgan is said to make up approximately two percent of Northern Rock’s assets. At the time of writiing, Northern Rock offer three equity release products

• Standard Lifetime Mortgage
• Cash Plus Lifetime Mortgage
• Protected Equity Lifetime Mortgage

Chief Executive Andy Kuipers is happy about the equity release portfolio sale. He said “It illustrates the quality of our assets, which has enabled us to achieve a sale at a premium despite continuing difficult financial markets“.