In effect, you are offering your home as collateral against the loan. This means that, should you fail to pay the loan back, the lender will be entitled to take possession of your house.
Scary stuff. Hence the standard health warning:
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT.The advantage of a homeowner loan is that you often get better rates than an unsecured loan because you are guaranteeing to the lender that they will get their money back on way or another.
A secured loan allows you to borrow up to £25,000 and pay it back over a repayment period up to 25 years. With an unsecured personal loan, you only get up to 10 years.