Equity Release Advice
At Freedom Advice, we have decades of experience in helping homeowners make the best decisions for their futures through equity release schemes.
Throughout Yorkshire and the rest of the UK, more and more homeowners are looking into equity release to unlock large sums of money tied up in their properties.
If you’re currently enjoying retirement, you might find that the value of your home is far greater than the amount within your pension pot.
With this in mind, you could look to increase the size of your pension through an equity release scheme.
The process of finding the best equity release scheme for your personal circumstances can be both daunting and complex. With the help of Freedom Advice, however, we can help you find the best equity release scheme by providing you with impartial and honest advice.
What is the right age for equity release?
If you’re a homeowner and aged 55 or above, you are eligible for equity release.
It’s important to note, however, that the amount you can borrow will be significantly lower than those in the later years of their life.
This is because lenders apply a scale for equity release, wherein the older you are, the more you can borrow.
An equity release scheme taken out by a younger person is therefore carefully managed by lenders, who will limit your borrowing.
With that in mind, it could be more beneficial for a person (in some circumstances), to delay the process into later years to avoid the compounding of interest.
Many lifetime mortgage plans come with features that allow for flexibility, such as when you might need to mitigate the “roll-up” of interest. Features such as flexible voluntary payments can also minimise the build-up of such interest.
That said, many borrowers do not make monthly interest payments on equity release plans, as they choose to repay any and all amounts when the plan ends. This is usually when the borrower dies or moves into a permanent care facility.
How can I find the right equity release plan?
Although the best deal for a normal mortgage is one with the lowest possible interest rate, this is not necessarily the same for an equity release scheme.
This is because monthly interest repayments are not typically made, and the number of options and features available means that there is a great practical disparity between equity release schemes and typical mortgages.
Finding the right equity release plan for your personal circumstances can, therefore, be difficult.
You must also consider your plans for the future, such as the inheritance you leave for your family, or if you want to repay your plan at some point in the future.
What about means-tested benefits that I receive?
If you receive any kind of means-tested benefits, such as council tax support, this could affect your eligibility to take out an equity release plan.
That said, however, this will depend on your personal circumstances, alongside the equity release scheme that you decide upon.
At Freedom Advice, we can perform an indicative benefits analysis to help you claim entitlement and ensure that any entitlement received is unaffected by your equity release plan.
Frequently Asked Questions