Sebastian Stokes, 56, is glad to be off the property ladder.
He bought his house, a pre-war two-bed semi-detached former Council house in Beauchamp Road, Billesley, in 1999.
But when the former decorator was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the spine, which prevented him from working, he quickly fell into arrears on his interest-only mortgage.
He said: "I was struggling to work and my debt was spiralling out of control. The pressure was becoming unbearable, I didn't know where to turn."
Although his mortgage lenders were initially amenable to renegotiating his payment terms, Sebastian's illness meant he had no long-term prospect of a salary coming in.
So, rather than wait for his property to be repossessed by the bank, Sebastian decided to take matters into his own hands.
He spotted an advertisement in his local paper by Localhousebuyer, which specialises in purchasing and renting back properties to their owners.
Within days a sale was agreed. With the £10,000 profit realised from the sale Sebastian was able to clear his mortgage arrears, together with other outstanding debts. He was also left with a bonus £2,000 to spend as he liked.
As well as releasing some cash, Sebastian's monthly outgoings have reduced considerably. Instead of having to find £650 a month to fund his mortgage payments, he now pays £365 per month in rent, leaving him with plenty of spare funds. This has also given him the ability to rethink his career - the former decorator has trained to be a tutor in decorating, and is currently working at a construction college.
But according to Sebastian, the opportunity to re-engineer his finances and change jobs were not the only bonuses: it was the peace of mind his decision to sell brought that proved the biggest relief.
He said: "My partner and I were keen to remain in the same house. We have good neighbours, a big garden, we are comfortable here.
"Selling the property and renting it back from Localhousebuyer has enabled us to remain in our home. We no longer have any of the overhead costs of owning a property and no maintenance hassles. Best of all, we are back on our feet."
