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Before you start

What to find before you speak to anybody

A printable list of the paperwork an adviser, a valuer or a solicitor is likely to ask for, and where each one usually lives. Gaps are normal; several of these can change the answer entirely.

None of this commits you to anything and most of it is in one drawer. Somebody who arrives holding it gets a far better first hour.

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.

How this page is kept
Written by
Equity Release Facts editorial
Last checked
6 September 2026
Next review
6 March 2027

Why bother, before you have decided anything

Because the first conversation is much shorter and much more useful when the facts are already on the table, and because several of these can change the answer entirely.

None of it is a commitment. You can gather all of it, look at what it tells you, and decide against the whole thing.

The one to start with

Whatever survey you had when you bought the house. It says what the property is made of, and that single sentence decides more than anything else on the list.

Why the construction matters →
What we are not telling you

Whether any of it means yes or no. We cannot read your title, interpret your lease, classify your construction or assess your benefits. What this list does is put the right documents in front of the people who can.

Worth knowing

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.

Where this comes from
  1. 01 Equity Release Facts · opened 6 September 2026 Practical guidance, with every figure sourced on the page it belongs to This page carries no figures of its own. Where it refers to one, it links to the page that sources it.
The list

Print this and work through it. Gaps are normal and not a problem: an adviser will help you chase what is missing.

  • Your last survey or valuation From when you bought. It describes the construction, which is the most consequential fact about the building.
  • An official copy of your title A few pounds from the Land Registry, or your solicitor has one. It shows tenure, restrictions and anything unusual.
  • Your mortgage statement, if you still have one Your lender. It is repaid first out of anything released, so the balance changes the whole picture.
  • Your council tax bill The banding, and whether any annexe is banded separately.
  • Your lease, if leasehold The remaining term and the ground rent. Your age plus the remaining term is a published criterion for at least one lender.
  • Anything about work done to the property Guarantees, certificates, planning paperwork. Spray foam, knotweed treatment, extensions and conversions all have paperwork somewhere.
  • A note of who lives with you, and on what basis Your own account. Anybody over 17 living there will usually be asked to sign a deed of consent.
  • What you are claiming, if anything Your benefit letters. It decides whether the means-tested question applies to you at all.

Questions worth asking

  1. 01

    Which of these do you actually need from me?

    Ask early. Some advisers want more than others and it saves a second round of digging.

  2. 02

    Is anything here likely to be a problem?

    Better raised by you at the start than found by a valuer at the end.

  3. 03

    What is missing that I should try to get?

    Gaps are normal. Knowing which ones matter is the useful part.

Read next

What has changed on this page
  1. First publication, drawing the document lists together from the eleven property guides.
How this page is kept
Written by
Equity Release Facts editorial
Last checked
6 September 2026
Next review
6 March 2027
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

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.

Why gather anything before the first conversation?

Because it is much shorter and much more useful when the facts are already on the table, and because several of these can change the answer entirely.

Does gathering it commit me to anything?

No. You can gather all of it, look at what it tells you, and decide against the whole thing.

Where is most of it?

Most of it is in one drawer. The checklist on this page exists so that the search happens once rather than in instalments over three phone calls.

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.