A restriction on who may occupy the house, the amount of land that comes with it, and whether any of it earns money are three separate questions. This sets out what one provider publishes on each, including a threshold above which only the house and its immediate garden are valued.
Three separate things that get treated as one. A paddock with two horses on it has almost nothing in common with a tie on the deeds, and they are assessed completely differently.
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.
Work out which of these you actually have before you read any further. Most people have one of them, not all three, and the one you have decides who you need to speak to.
An agricultural occupancy condition, or a covenant on the title, limiting the house to somebody working or last working in agriculture or forestry locally. It is a planning and legal question and it sits on the property, not on you.
Your solicitor reads the wording. A planning consultant advises on it.
Acreage on its own is not a restriction. It changes which criteria apply and, above a threshold, what gets valued. A large garden and a smallholding are not the same thing to a lender even when they are the same size.
A valuer, and an adviser who knows which products have acreage limits.
Commercial use is assessed separately again, and it is drawn widely: the criteria quoted here include renting land to somebody else. Grazing let to a neighbour is income even when it does not feel like a business.
You, first. It is the question you can answer honestly today and it changes the shape of the conversation.
Above five acres, this lender considers only the house and the garden immediately around it. The land is not counted. If your property is worth what it is worth because of the acreage, the figure a valuer puts on it for this purpose can be a great deal lower than the figure in your head, and the maximum you could release moves with it.
That is not a refusal and it is not a reason to give up. It is a reason to find out early, because it changes the arithmetic rather than the answer.
“the value of the house and immediate garden area”
Legal & General’s published lending criteria, opened 6 September 2026. One provider on one date. Other lenders set their own thresholds and some publish none at all.
Legal & General’s own words, opened 6 September 2026, grouped by what they say happens. This is a dated example of how such rules are written. It is not a market standard, it is not evidence of what any other provider would do, and it is not a decision about your property.
Read the first column carefully. “Providing any form of commercial income including renting of land to other parties” is drawn widely enough to catch grazing let to a neighbour, which most people would not think of as farming. That is worth knowing before an application rather than during one.
The acreage and the income question you can answer today. The wording of any restriction is one question to your solicitor, and it is the one that decides most of this.
Equity release requires repaying any existing mortgage. Money released, plus accrued interest, would need to be repaid upon death or moving into long-term care.
We cannot interpret your covenant, and neither can an adviser. The wording differs on every title and reading it is a solicitor’s job. We are also not telling you whether a restriction can be lifted: there are established planning routes, they turn on the facts of your property and your council’s policy, and they are a matter for a planning consultant. Nothing here is a decision about whether your property would be accepted.
The first and the last are for a solicitor and a planning consultant. The middle three are for an adviser.
What exactly does my restriction say, and is it a planning condition or a covenant?
For your solicitor. The two are different instruments with different consequences, and no page can read your title for you.
Above five acres, what would actually be valued?
The published criteria here consider only the house and immediate garden above that threshold. Ask early, because it changes the figure rather than the answer.
Does letting grazing to a neighbour count as commercial income?
On the wording quoted on this page it does. Worth establishing before an application rather than during one.
Which lenders, if any, publish criteria my property could meet?
For an adviser with the whole market. One lender declining is one lender's position on one date.
Is there anything to be done about the restriction, and who would I ask?
A planning consultant and a solicitor. There are established routes and none of them is a matter for us, an adviser or a lender.
Short answers to the things that come up most. None of it is advice, and every figure on this page carries its source.
No, they are three separate things and they get assessed separately: a restriction on who may live there, the acreage, and whether any part of it produces income. Sorting out which one you actually have is most of the work.
An occupancy condition or a covenant limiting the house to somebody working or last working in agriculture or forestry locally. One lender publishes that properties with onerous restrictive covenants, giving agricultural ties as the example, are declined.
One lender publishes acceptance up to 10 acres subject to no agricultural ties or commercial activity, and refers land beyond 10 acres. There are published thresholds at five and at ten acres, so a rough figure is not good enough.
That lender considers the value of the house and immediate garden area. The land is not counted. If your property is worth what it is worth because of the acreage, the figure can be very different from what you expect, which is a reason to find out early rather than a refusal.
On the wording quoted here, yes. The criterion covers any part of the property used for farming providing any form of commercial income, including renting land to other parties. Grazing let to a neighbour is income even when it does not feel like a business.
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.
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.
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity and Vimeo. Say no and none of them loads. What each one stores, and what Microsoft use theirs for.