Equity Release Mortgage Guide

General Info

Already a Homeowner? Want to Release Some Equity?

If you are already a homeowner - with or without a mortgage - then you might want to release some equity from your home to give you a cash lump sum.

This means that if you have paid off a significant amount of your mortgage and/or property prices have risen, you can benefit from some of the "profit" that is locked into your house without having to sell your home.

Lenders provide a variety of packages for doing this, but they are generally described as "equity release" mortgages.

Typically you will be able to borrow up to 95% of the equity in your home, given to you in a lump sum which you then pay back like a normal mortgage. This can be used to pay for home improvements, lifestyle changes, home repairs – almost anything, really.

WARNING Be very careful when doing an equity release mortgage. For some reason they are not regulated by the Government. Many experts are worried about this new trend and there are concerns it could become yet another personal finance scandal.

Watch out for the following

Make sure that your proposed equity release plan has a negative equity guarantee. This means that should the value of your property decrease then the debt will also decrease proportionally.
Make sure that you can keep full ownership of your home until your death.
Make sure that you are allowed to move home after taking out an equity release plan.
If you are living “in sin” with a partner, Make sure that you take out a joint plan that makes the debt reclaimable only after the death of the last surviving partner.
Make sure that any outstanding debt after the sale of your property will not be passed on to your relatives.
Watch out for the extra charges involved, like legal fees, the property survey and setting up fees or other admin charges