Equity Release
Equity release is the generic description for a range of products that allow income or cash lump sums to be released from a property whilst the owners continue to occupy the property. They are arranged on an open ended basis so that in most instances the customers do not repay the capital until the property is sold upon death or they are moving into a care home.
Equity release can be a helpful option to consider if you have much of your wealth tied up in your home and you need capital or additional income. Inevitably, releasing cash from the home will mean the dilution of the equity in the home but this may be an acceptable price to pay to secure one's standard of living.
The market has been invigorated by rapid growth in demand from the development of new products. There were problems with some of the home income plan products marketed during the 1980's that featured exposure to stock market returns and were reliant on favourable interest rates. The leading companies created the Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) organisation in 1991. This introduced a code of practice and guarantees that certain protections would be included within SHIP products.
Universal Features of Equity Release Products
There are many different types of products but most share the following characteristics:
The advice process is time consuming and we typically charge an administration fee of £300 for submitting an application. We can receive commission from the lender for providing our advice, or we can charge a fee of typically £2,000. If we do charge a fee for our advice, any commission received will be rebated back to you.
We have many years of providing financial advice to clients in Brighton, Hove, Sussex, London, Reading and the South East. We can assist you in providing unbiased advice as to the most suitable form of equity release for you and then locate the best terms from the various providers.
Equity release can be a helpful option to consider if you have much of your wealth tied up in your home and you need capital or additional income. Inevitably, releasing cash from the home will mean the dilution of the equity in the home but this may be an acceptable price to pay to secure one's standard of living.
The market has been invigorated by rapid growth in demand from the development of new products. There were problems with some of the home income plan products marketed during the 1980's that featured exposure to stock market returns and were reliant on favourable interest rates. The leading companies created the Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) organisation in 1991. This introduced a code of practice and guarantees that certain protections would be included within SHIP products.
Universal Features of Equity Release Products
There are many different types of products but most share the following characteristics:
- They are usually secured by a first legal charge over residential property.
- They are usually available to borrowers above a specified age.
- They are generally open ended with the debt repaid from the estate of the borrower on their death or the sale of the property if the borrower goes into long term care or sheltered accommodation.
- They are intended to release capital and in some cases income to the borrower.
- Lifetime mortgages are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
- The borrower retains responsibility for maintenance and repair of the property.
The advice process is time consuming and we typically charge an administration fee of £300 for submitting an application. We can receive commission from the lender for providing our advice, or we can charge a fee of typically £2,000. If we do charge a fee for our advice, any commission received will be rebated back to you.
We have many years of providing financial advice to clients in Brighton, Hove, Sussex, London, Reading and the South East. We can assist you in providing unbiased advice as to the most suitable form of equity release for you and then locate the best terms from the various providers.