Date: 10 January 2012

If you need to move, or want to raise money from your home, you may find it difficult to sell your home these days. Or you could be behind with your mortgage and are looking for ways to sort it out. If so, you may have heard about some new ways to sell your home.

One way is known as exchange with delayed completion. This is where you exchange contracts with a buyer but complete several years later. The other one is known as lease options, where the buyer pays you a sum of money upfront so that they have the option to buy your home in the future.

You need to be careful if you're thinking of going ahead with one of these options. They can be risky because your name stays on the mortgage, so that you're responsible if anything goes wrong. For example, the buyer may stop making payments on your mortgage and it could be a while before you become aware of this. You could lose your home if you can't find the money to clear the arrears. There is also little protection if you move out and things go wrong, as there is no government regulation of these schemes.

Often, you'd be better off selling your home yourself on the open market or renting it out. You may also be able to get financial help and other government help to stay in your home.

To find out more about how these schemes work and what the risks are, see Problems with selling your home - delayed completion and lease options contracts.