Later Life Lending FAQs

  • There are procedures since equity release is a very heavily regulated product. There are lots of checks to make sure that the advice is correct. After all, equity release is not the best option for everybody, so it’s important to get quality advice from a trusted professional advisor who will be able to offer you all the different options available to you.

    The key to remember is that we make sure to take plenty of time to explain the process, how it works and what happens next. We provide a helping hand at every stage of the process. We keep you fully informed by phone call, e-mail, text message, or whatever way you prefer to make sure that you are always kept up to date and know what the next steps are. We have the expertise to explain the process and answer any questions that you may have.

  • In the past there was an option for equity release where you effectively gave away the ownership of your property and lived there as a tenant. We do not recommend any of those products at all.

    The products that we recommend work in a very similar way to any mortgage you have previously had during your lifetime. You always retain ownership of your own home. The main difference with equity release mortgages is that the interest rate will be fixed for life so you don’t have to worry about interest rate increases from the Bank of England.

    There will obviously be a mortgage against your property. The difference is that if it’s a joint mortgage it does not need to be repaid until the second person passes away or goes into long term care.

  • No. Absolutely not!

    One of the changes that has been made to equity release over the last few years is that there is now a no-negative-equity guarantee. This has made the product far more accessible. It means that regardless of how long you have an equity release mortgage for and regardless of whatever happens to house prices, you or your family will never owe more than what your house is worth.

  • If it’s a joint policy the mortgage is only paid back when the second person either passes away or goes into long term care. You also have the option of paying the mortgage off earlier. These options can be fully discussed with your professional adviser. In many cases you can pay some/all of the interest, or make over payments without a penalty.

  • You can use it for any legal purpose.

    Due to our wonderful NHS we are living longer but often our pension funds are not getting bigger. If anything, they are getting smaller. We have a smaller amount of money to look after us for a longer period of time.

    You might want to use the money to help your children or grandchildren so that you can see them benefit from your hard work during your lifetime. You can make home improvements to your property. Many people do not want to move from a home that they’ve lived in for many years, but due to their physical requirements, they may want to make improvements to the property to make it more comfortable to live there. You may also have a mortgage that you are concerned about paying off and you can use equity release to repay that mortgage. You could raise money for holidays, cars or anything else that you want to make your retirement more comfortable.

  • Absolutely.

    You can have a ‘standard’ mortgage well past retirement age. There is also a product called retirement interest only. Both of these other options are dependent on the amount of income that you receive in retirement and that’s why you need to talk to a professional advisor so that they can fully consider all the options available to you.

  • You do not need to tell your family but we strongly recommend that you do so. It is important that they also have the opportunity to ask any questions and you will probably prefer to get their input into any decision that you have to make.

  • If you are married then the majority of lenders require the mortgage to be in joint names. There are a couple of lenders at the moment that will allow it to only be in one. However, if you want the maximum choice of lenders and you are married then you would need to do it in joint names.

    If you are not married you can do it in one person’s name.

    Age of the applicant is an important factor regarding how much money you can release from your property. The older you are the more money you can get from the property.

  • Yes it is!

  • Potentially yes. That needs to be fully discussed with your professional advisor. A qualified, trusted advisor will discuss any benefits you receive and whether there will be any impact or effect on receipt of those benefits.

  • Yes you can - provided the property is acceptable to your lender. You will need to tell your professional advisor if this is something that you may wish to consider in the future so that it is taken into account when a recommendation is made.

  • Yes you can. You need to discuss this with your professional advisor. If this is an option that you want to have you will have a choice of products that enable you to pay just the interest payment, all of it, or some of it. In most cases you can even make overpayments without being penalised.

  • We know exactly what you’re talking about.

    Andy Rowden, our resident equity release specialist, has been involved in advising on all types of mortgages for over 26 years. He was not keen on the product for most of those years. However, two or three years ago, a number of his clients kept asking about it and whether it was any good. so he decided to thoroughly investigate it and see if it still had the bad reputation that it had many years ago.

    He was pleased to find out that the things that gave it its genuine bad name a number of years ago can no longer happen now. It is far more regulated than any mortgage product in the United Kingdom. After 26 years of advising professionally on all types of mortgages he had to pass additional mortgage qualifications just to be able to advise on equity release.

    In addition, there are now a lot more providers in the marketplace. With increased competition comes better options, more choices and more products. This means more choices for clients so the clients are benefiting.

    One of the main issues in the past was that in some cases it was possible to owe more than the property was worth. With the no negative guarantee applicable to all equity release mortgages, that is no longer possible.

    There are also other options now that were not available in the past such as overpayments, paying interest, down sizing and porting to other properties etc.

  • Looking at lending into retirement involves some very important decisions, so it is vital you get qualified professional and trusted advice that looks at all your options specific to your requirements.

  • Yes you can. The most suitable advice will depend on your circumstances, and you need to be fully aware of all your options. It is advisable to get professional and trusted advice to help you decide if this is your most suitable option.

  • Yes that is an option.