A church mortgage supposed to help clergy buy their own home has turned into a huge burden for a woman who paid interest for almost 29 years
The family of a vicar’s widow has accused the Church of England of behaving like a loan shark after a £55,000 mortgage it granted became a £313,000 debt – on top of monthly payments she has been making for almost 30 years.
Tessa Norris* says her 84-year-old mother, Rose, has “devoted her life to the church, all on a voluntary basis” but that it is treating her, and others in a similar position, “as commodities to make money”.
