Mandatory wording on every page of this site says there may be other options which better suit your circumstances. This is what taking that seriously looks like: six of them, in the same shape, with nothing ranked or recommended.
Nothing here is ranked and none of it is recommended. They are set out the same way so you can weigh them yourself, and one of them is doing nothing.
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.
These are not in order of preference and there is no scoring. Which one suits somebody depends on their income, their family, their health, their house and what they actually want, and weighing those against each other is what advice is for.
Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance, Council Tax reductions and help with care costs go unclaimed in very large numbers. A free benefits check takes about half an hour.
Releases the difference in one go, with no debt behind it. Costs money once: stamp duty, two sets of fees, removals and setting up the new place.
You borrow and pay the interest monthly, so the debt does not grow. The FCA created it as a separate product from a lifetime mortgage in 2018, and it is assessed on whether you can afford the payments.
Obvious, frequently overlooked, and often cheaper than any product. Family lending or gifting has its own tax considerations, so take advice before money moves.
Not everything is a different product. Taking half as much, or taking it in stages, changes the arithmetic more than most people expect, and the maximum is rarely the right answer.
A real option and rarely presented as one. Waiting a year means being a year older, which raises the maximum you could release, and it costs nothing to think about it for longer.
The wording every equity release site has to carry says there may be other options which better suit your circumstances. Most of them print that sentence and never mention one. This is what taking it seriously looks like.
We are not advisers and we cannot tell you which of these fits. What we can do is make sure you knew they existed.
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.
The first is free and takes half an hour. The last one is worth asking of anybody who seems to be rushing you.
Have I had a free benefits check?
First, because it costs nothing and for some people it settles the whole question.
Would I pass an affordability assessment for a retirement interest-only mortgage?
Worth knowing before ruling it out. It keeps the debt from growing, which is the single biggest difference between the two products.
What would a home I would actually want cost, locally?
Turns downsizing from an abstraction into a number you can compare.
What alternatives did my adviser consider, and why were they ruled out?
They have to consider them. The reasoning tells you how carefully.
Is there any reason this has to be decided now?
Usually there is not. If somebody suggests otherwise, that is worth noticing.
Short answers to the things that come up most. None of it is advice, and every figure on this page carries its source.
What you are already entitled to. Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance, Council Tax reductions and help with care costs go unclaimed in very large numbers, and a free benefits check takes about half an hour.
It releases the difference in one go, with no debt behind it. It costs money once: stamp duty, two sets of fees, removals and setting up the new place, plus the upheaval of moving.
You borrow and pay the interest monthly, so the debt does not grow. The FCA created it as a separate product from a lifetime mortgage in 2018, and it is assessed on whether you can afford the payments.
It is obvious, frequently overlooked, and often cheaper than any product. Family lending or gifting has its own tax considerations, so take advice before money moves.
Yes. Half the money compounds to half the debt, so taking less of a lifetime mortgage is a real option rather than a compromise, and the maximum on a calculator is a ceiling rather than a recommendation.
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.