Equity Release
Equity Release
Unlock the Value in Your Home
Unlock the Value in Your Home
As proud members of the Equity Release Council, we are committed to providing clear, professional advice and ensuring that all recommendations meet the highest industry standards.
If you’re aged 55 or over and own your home, equity release could allow you to access some of the money tied up in your property without having to move. Many plans allow you to release funds without making monthly repayments, although the amount borrowed, plus any interest, will need to be repaid when your home is eventually sold.
Equity release can be a useful solution for some people, but it’s not right for everyone. That’s why we’ll take the time to understand your circumstances and explain both the benefits and the potential drawbacks before making any recommendation.
Independent legal advice is required before proceeding with an equity release plan.
Why Do People Consider Equity Release?
People use equity release for many different reasons, including:
- Supplementing their retirement income
- Making financial gifts to family members
- Funding home improvements
- Purchasing a holiday home
- Covering long-term care costs
- Repaying existing borrowing
- Making their retirement more comfortable
Once released, the funds can generally be used however you choose.
Considering the Alternatives
Before recommending equity release, we’ll discuss whether there may be more suitable alternatives available.
These could include:
Downsizing
Moving to a smaller property could release capital while potentially reducing ongoing household costs.
Using Existing Savings or Investments
Where appropriate, it may be worth considering whether existing assets could meet your needs.
Renting Out a Room
If you have unused space in your home, renting a room may provide additional income.
Checking Benefit Entitlements
Many people don’t realise they may qualify for state benefits or grants. Equity release can also affect entitlement to means-tested benefits, so this should always be considered carefully.
Selling and Renting
For some homeowners, selling their property and moving into rented accommodation may be worth exploring, particularly where a significant amount of equity is available.
Our role is to ensure equity release genuinely fits your needs, circumstances and objectives before any decision is made.
Lifetime Mortgages
A Lifetime Mortgage is the most common form of equity release.
It allows you to borrow money against your home while retaining ownership of the property. The funds are usually released as a lump sum, smaller drawdowns when required, or a combination of both.
Many lifetime mortgages are arranged on a roll-up basis, meaning you don’t make monthly payments. Instead, interest is added to the loan each year and repaid when the property is sold, usually after the last surviving homeowner dies or moves into long-term care.
Depending on your age and circumstances, you may be able to release a percentage of your home’s value.
Why Choose an Equity Release Council Approved Lender?
The Equity Release Council (ERC) sets industry standards designed to protect homeowners considering equity release. Choosing a lender that follows these standards provides important safeguards and greater peace of mind.
Key Benefits
No Negative Equity Guarantee
One of the most important protections is the No Negative Equity Guarantee. This means that when your property is eventually sold, neither you nor your estate will ever owe more than the value of your home, provided the property has met the lender’s terms and conditions.
The Right to Remain in Your Home
You have the right to remain in your property for life, or until you move into long-term care, providing the property remains your main residence and you continue to meet the terms of the plan.
Flexibility to Move Home
Most modern equity release plans allow you to move to another suitable property in the future, subject to the lender’s criteria.
Clear Information and Advice
The Equity Release Council is the industry body that sets standards designed to protect consumers and promote high-quality advice. These standards help ensure that homeowners considering equity release receive clear information about how the plans work, the costs involved, and the potential impact on their future finances and estate.
As part of these standards, you’ll receive clear, easy-to-understand documentation, including personalised illustrations showing how a recommended plan works and how it may affect your situation over time. This information is designed to help you compare options and make an informed decision.
The Equity Release Council also promotes high standards of professional advice. Advisers must hold the appropriate qualifications, fully explore your available options, and ensure that any recommendation takes account of your individual needs, circumstances and objectives.
Fixed or Capped Interest Rates
Interest rates must be either fixed or, if variable, have a fixed cap. Both of which must be fixed for the life of the mortgage.
Optional Repayments
Many modern lifetime mortgages allow voluntary repayments, enabling you to meet the full interest payment or part, which will reduce the amount of interest that rolls up and preserve more of your property’s value for your beneficiaries.
Protection for Your Family
The guarantees provided by Equity Release Council members help ensure that your beneficiaries understand exactly how the plan works and provide reassurance regarding future repayment arrangements.
Long-Term Care Protection
One of the additional safeguards available with many Equity Release Council-approved plans relates to long-term care.
If you need to move permanently into long-term care, whether in a residential care home, nursing home, NHS facility, local authority accommodation, or to live with relatives who are providing care, any applicable early repayment charge may be waived by the lender.
This safeguard can provide valuable flexibility for you and your family should your circumstances change in the future.
The waiver of any early repayment charge is subject to the lender’s terms and conditions and will usually require confirmation from a registered medical practitioner that long-term care is required.
Why This Matters
- Provides additional flexibility if your care needs change.
- Allows your property to be sold without an early repayment charge in qualifying circumstances.
- Helps reduce potential costs at what can already be a difficult time for you and your family.
- Reflects the consumer protections available through many Equity Release Council standards.
Advantages
- Continue owning your home
- No required monthly repayments on many plans
- Available from age 55 onwards
- Some plans include inheritance protection options
- Equity Release Council plans include a no negative equity guarantee
Things to Consider
- The amount left to your beneficiaries may be reduced
- Interest can build up significantly over time
- Early repayment charges may apply
- Entitlement to certain means-tested benefits could be affected
- Equity release may not be the most suitable option available
Drawdown Lifetime Mortgages
A Drawdown Lifetime Mortgage works similarly to a standard lifetime mortgage, but instead of taking all the money at once, you release funds as and when required.
This can help reduce the amount of interest charged because interest is only applied to the money you’ve actually withdrawn.
Advantages
- Access funds when needed
- Retain ownership of your home
- Potentially lower interest costs than taking the full amount immediately
- Flexible access to additional funds, subject to plan conditions
- May include inheritance protection options
Things to Consider
- Additional withdrawals are subject to the provider’s terms
- Interest still compounds on released funds
- Early repayment charges may apply
- Benefits and tax position may be affected
Home Reversion Plans
Please note we do not advise on or arrange Home Reversion Plans; however, it’s important to understand how they work.
A Home Reversion Plan allows you to sell part or all of your property to a home reversion provider in exchange for a tax-free lump sum, regular income, or a combination of both. In return, you retain the right to continue living in your home, rent-free, for the rest of your life or until you move into permanent long-term care.
Unlike a lifetime mortgage, no loan is taken out and no interest is charged. However, ownership of part or all of the property is transferred to the provider, which means they will receive their agreed share of the property’s value when it is eventually sold.
As Home Reversion Plans are a specialist area of equity release, we recommend seeking advice from a suitably qualified adviser if you would like to explore this option.
Advantages
- No mortgage repayments
- The amount of your property sold is agreed from the outset
- You can often ring-fence part of your estate for beneficiaries
- You retain the right to stay in your home for life
- May release more money than a lifetime mortgage in some circumstances
Things to Consider
- You won’t normally receive full market value for the share sold
- Future growth in property value only applies to the share you continue to own
- Home reversion plans are usually difficult to reverse
- Benefits and tax position may be affected
- Early exit charges may apply
Why Choose Us?
When it comes to equity release, experience matters.
For more than 30 years, we’ve been helping homeowners make important financial decisions with confidence. We understand that equity release isn’t just about releasing money from your home, it’s about supporting your lifestyle, your retirement plans and often your family’s future too.
As members of the Equity Release Council, we follow a strict code of conduct and only recommend plans that meet recognised consumer protection standards. This gives our clients valuable safeguards, including the security of knowing they can remain in their home for life and that their estate will never owe more than the property’s value under plans that include the Council’s No Negative Equity Guarantee.
We’ll take the time to understand what you’re hoping to achieve, discuss the alternatives available and explain both the advantages and disadvantages of equity release in clear, straightforward language.
Our aim is simple: to help you make an informed decision with confidence, knowing you’ve received honest, professional advice from a trusted local adviser.
Thinking About Equity Release?
If you’d like to learn more about equity release and whether it could be suitable for you, we’re here to help.
Request your No Obligation Equity Release Guide today or contact us for a no-obligation initial discussion.
Get Your No Obligation Equity Release Guide
Leave your name and email address and we'll send you a guide to Equity Release.
We will use your details only to send you the guide. See our Privacy Notice.
Important Information
Book an Appointment
Speak to us about your circumstances — arrange a time that suits you.