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What we publish, and how we check it

There is no shortage of writing about equity release. Most of it carries no source, no date, or a date at the top of the page that has nothing to do with the figures underneath. This page is the list of what we have published so far, what we are writing next, and the standard all of it is held to.

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.

We are not advisers

Nothing in any of these guides is advice, and none of it is written to move you towards taking out a plan. Several of them are written so that you can read one and decide equity release is not for you.

The standard
Every figure has a named source
Every source has the date we opened it
Anything unverified stays in [brackets]
What we could not check is published too
The last one is the unusual one. Where a source will not open or a figure cannot be confirmed, we say so on the page rather than quietly leaving last week’s number in place.
Checked 10 September 2026
[6.20%]lowest lump sum rate, fixed for life[lender rate sheets] [6.44%]lowest drawdown rate[lender rate sheets] 43.5%most you could release at 70LTV schedule, July 2026 54%most you could release at 80 or overLTV schedule, July 2026 55Legal & General's youngest applicantL&G lending criteria, 6 September 2026 £0to pay each month unless you choose tosubject to lender terms [6 to 8 weeks]typical time from application to money £70,000Legal & General's minimum for a houseL&G lending criteria, 6 September 2026

Published

60 guides in 7 groups, each with the date its figures were last checked against a primary source.

Start here

What it is and what actually happens, written last so they could point at everything else.

What equity release is, in plain English Get a balanced overview with nothing sold in it. Figures checked 6 September 2026
How equity release works, step by step Understand the process, and where you can stop. Figures checked 6 September 2026

What it costs

The rate, the fees, and what the debt does over thirty years.

Equity release calculator Get an indicative figure without giving anybody your details. Figures checked 5 September 2026
What our equity release calculator assumes See the working behind the number. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Why a calculator figure can change Understand why the calculator figure is a starting point. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release interest rates, and how to read one Understand a rate you have seen quoted somewhere. Figures checked 10 September 2026
How rolled-up interest works, with the arithmetic See what the debt actually does over time, before deciding anything. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release fees, beyond the interest rate Know what the whole thing costs, not just the rate. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release and tax, and where tax does apply Find out where tax actually arrives, and what the published allowances are. Figures checked 10 September 2026
Early repayment charges on equity release Find out which kind of charge your plan has, and what that means. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Paying interest on equity release Tell the four kinds of payment arrangement apart before you compare them. Figures checked 7 September 2026
Drawdown or a lump sum Work out which shape answers the question you are actually asking. Figures checked 7 September 2026

The products

The two kinds of plan, and the standards a provider commits to.

Lifetime mortgages Understand what actually protects you, and how to check it applies. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Home reversion Understand the less common product, and what to ask for. Figures checked 6 September 2026
The no-negative-equity guarantee, and its conditions Understand the single most reassuring feature, accurately. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Retirement interest-only mortgages, and the difference Understand the main alternative product, and whether it is open to you. Figures checked 6 September 2026

Deciding

The downside, the alternatives, and the consequences nobody volunteers.

The risks of equity release, with the numbers Read the whole downside in one place, and decide. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Six things that are not equity release See the options that are not equity release, before choosing one that is. Figures checked 6 September 2026
A second charge mortgage, and how it differs See the published difference between the two, in both directions. Figures checked 10 September 2026
Equity release and means-tested benefits Find out whether releasing money could cost you more than it gains. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release and what you leave behind See the effect on your estate as a figure, and know what to tell your family. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release or downsizing Price the move properly, then compare it fairly against a plan. Figures checked 6 September 2026
An interest-only mortgage reaching its end See every option, not just the one this site is about. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Clone firms, and checking who is actually calling Run the check that actually catches a clone, and know what a clean search does not prove. Figures checked 8 September 2026
How to complain, and the deadline people miss Know the route, the time limits, and that it costs nothing to use. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release and moving into long-term care Find out what ends the plan, and settle the moving-in-with-family question before it matters. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release after a death Know what an executor has to do, on what timescale, and what the provider can do if it stalls. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release when somebody else lives with you Work out who in your household can be on the plan, and what everybody else will be asked. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release in joint names, and who can stay Make sure the right names are on the plan, and understand what happens if your household changes. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release under a power of attorney Find out whether the attorney route is open at all, and what it means if the plan involves giving money away. Figures checked 8 September 2026
The equity release valuation, and what you can see Know who orders the valuation, what it is for, and what you can ask to see. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Moving home with equity release Find out what the new property will be measured against, before you view one. Figures checked 7 September 2026

Your property

The features that turn a straightforward case into a question, what lenders actually publish about each, and one page that indexes them all, where you can narrow the list to the features your own home has.

Equity release and Japanese knotweed Find out what is actually assessed, and what evidence to gather, before speaking to anybody. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release with a solar panel lease on the roof Find out whether somebody holds a lease over your roof, and what that means before you apply. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Unadopted roads, and the bill nobody expects Find out what unadopted actually means in law, and what liability comes with it. Figures checked 8 September 2026
What lenders and valuers assess about a property Find the guide for your own property, and see the pattern across all of them. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release above or beside a business Find out what is actually being weighed, and what you can describe accurately. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release near pylons and overhead cables Find out what the published rule actually tests, and check it yourself. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release and non-standard construction Match your survey's own words against what a lender actually publishes. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release with an agricultural tie or land Separate the three things, then find out which one you actually have. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release and a flying freehold Find out which of three things you have, then what is assessed about it. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release on an ex-council house or flat Find out which of the four tests actually applies to your home. Figures checked 7 September 2026
Equity release with a short lease Work out which published rules your lease and your age actually meet. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release on a property with an annexe Work out which questions the annexe raises, and answer most of them yourself. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release with two kitchens Understand the real question behind the kitchen, and what to check. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Equity release and spray foam insulation Find out where you stand before paying for anything, and what evidence would help. Figures checked 6 September 2026

Before you start

What to find, what to ask, and how to check the person in front of you.

Equity release eligibility Find out what is actually assessed, and what is not. Figures checked 7 September 2026
Documents to find before you speak to anybody Prepare, so the first conversation is a short one. Figures checked 6 September 2026
The equity release questions to take with you Walk into the conversation with the right questions. Figures checked 6 September 2026
How to check the person you are talking to Verify that the person advising you is who they say they are. Figures checked 6 September 2026
How to read an equity release illustration Work out what you are holding, and what to check in it. Figures checked 7 September 2026
Home adaptations, and the grant to check first Rule a Disabled Facilities Grant in or out before any borrowing is considered. Figures checked 8 September 2026
Equity release and debt Get the free advice that comes first, and understand what changes when a debt moves onto your home. Figures checked 8 September 2026
The equity release advice meeting, and what is tested Know what an adviser must test, and what you can ask for, before you sit down with one. Figures checked 8 September 2026
The equity release solicitor stage, and what it is for Understand what the solicitor is for, and find out early who else in your household needs their own advice. Figures checked 8 September 2026
If a lender will not accept your property Work out whether the answer can change, and what would change it. Figures checked 7 September 2026

Reference

The vocabulary, and the two collections that gather everything by subject.

Equity release glossary Understand a word somebody has used, without being sold anything. Figures checked 6 September 2026
The Plain English Library Find the plain meaning of something somebody said to you. Figures checked 6 September 2026
Decisions in later life See the decision in context rather than as a product choice. Figures checked 6 September 2026
How we check our figures, and what we got wrong Judge whether the figures on this site can be trusted. Figures checked 7 September 2026

How a figure gets onto a page

Four rules, and the third one is the one that makes the site look worse and be better.

The source has to be the original

A rate comes from the lender's own published rate sheet. A criterion comes from the lender's own published criteria. A market figure comes from the body that produced it. Not from a summary, not from another website, and not from an email.

Somebody has to open it

The date on a figure is the date a person opened the source and read it, not the date the page was edited. That is why a page can be updated and a figure on it can still say last month.

What cannot be confirmed keeps its brackets

A figure in [brackets] has not been checked against a primary source this week. It is published in that state, and the page says so, because the alternative is a number that reads as verified when it is not.

A figure never appears without its context

A rate without the circumstances it was quoted against is not information. A loan-to-value without the age it applies to is not information. They go on the page together or not at all.

If we get one wrong

Tell us and we will correct it. Use the form at the bottom of this page and say which figure and which page. We would rather be told than be wrong, and a correction costs us nothing except the correction.

Rates and lender criteria move constantly, so this is not a hypothetical. It is the expected maintenance cost of publishing figures at all, and it is the reason most sites in this category quietly stop updating theirs.

What we will not publish

This list is here so you can check we kept to it. Every one of these would get us more traffic than what we do instead.

A best-buy or league table of lenders

Rates and criteria move constantly. A ranked table goes stale within weeks and reads as a recommendation, and a recommendation is advice. Our lender tables are sorted alphabetically for exactly this reason.

Accepted and declined badges

A tick against a property feature compresses a valuation and an underwriting decision into a promise nobody can keep. What a feature does is raise a question, and we say what the question is.

Anything that tells you whether you qualify

No checker, no score, no yes or no. We are not advisers, and a site that pre-qualifies people is doing something it is not permitted to do. The calculator gives a maximum, not an offer.

A page built around a lender's name to catch their traffic

Particularly where that lender does not offer the product. The regulator removed hundreds of promotions for this and it is dishonest besides.

A figure we cannot source

However true it might be, and however much a layout wants one. The whole reason this site exists is that the incumbents advertise rates that are years out of date.

Pages generated at scale to fill a keyword list

A guide that only rephrases a lender rule adds nothing, and in a subject this consequential it copies errors into somebody's decision about their home.

Worth knowing

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.

Questions people ask about this

Short answers to the things that come up most. None of it is advice, and every figure on this page carries its source.

What is on this site?

Guides about equity release, each with the date its figures were last checked against a primary source. They are grouped by the situation you are in rather than by product.

What standard are they held to?

Every figure carries its source and the date we opened it. Where a figure cannot be verified it stays in brackets rather than being replaced with an estimate, and nothing is rounded or extrapolated to make a page read better.

What will you not publish?

Anything we cannot source, any figure presented as a personal quote, and any recommendation. We are not advisers and pushing somebody towards taking out equity release would be advice.

Worth knowing

Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage, secured against your property, or a home reversion plan. It will reduce the value of your estate and impact funding long-term care.

Talk it through with an adviser

Takes about two minutesFree, no obligation, and nothing committed

One qualified equity release adviser. They will go through your figures and tell you if there is a better answer. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Advice is required to proceed with equity release and there may be other options which better suit your circumstances. Only if your case completes would an advice fee be payable, and the adviser will tell you what theirs is before you commit to anything. Other lender and solicitor fees may apply.

We pass your details to one adviser and nobody else.