FAQ’s

Browse through the most
frequently asked questions.

FAQ’s

To be eligible for equity release:

  • You must be aged 55 and over (age of youngest applicant if a couple)
  • Own your own home of standard construction in the UK
  • Your property is worth at least £70,000

Minimum age, property value and eligibility varies between product providers.

Yes, there are alternatives. For example, you could:

You should consider all of your options carefully and seek specialist advice to ensure that you choose the best option for you.

Maybe. Some state benefits are means-tested, so releasing a lump sum of cash from your home may affect what you are entitled to. If this is something that concerns you, we strongly advise that you take advice in this area.

The cash lump sum released from your home is tax-free. However, if you decide to place this money in a savings account, secure a regular income, or make an investment, tax may then be payable on any interest, income or gains you receive.

Any product recommended to you by the Relaxed Retirement Ltd will allow you to move home if you want to, without charging a penalty – subject to the new property meeting the lender’s acceptable property criteria.

Normally, where the borrower has a spouse or partner, the product is taken out in joint names from the outset to make sure that both individuals have the right to remain in the property until they die or move out.

If the product is taken out in your name only, then unless the mortgage can be repaid in full, the property will have to be sold and your partner find somewhere else to live.

If you marry after you’ve taken out equity release, or if someone comes to live with you as your partner, you need to tell your provider. It may not be possible to add your new spouse or partner to your existing equity release product. In this case they may not have the right to continue living in your property if you die or move into permanent long-term care.

It depends on the plan you choose and if it is in joint names or just one name. If the plan is in your sole name and you have to move into permanent residential long-term care, your home would have to be sold and the amount you released, plus the interest accrued, must be repaid. If it is in joint names and only one of you moves into permanent long-term care then the other homeowner has the right to remain living in the home.

Yes you can leave an inheritance and release equity from your home. There are two types of equity release plan, and you have the option of leaving an inheritance on both:

  • Lifetime Mortgages are secured against your home and may offer the option of an Inheritance Protection Guarantee, which allows you to preserve a portion of your home’s value as an inheritance.
  • Home Reversion Plans work by you selling part, or all, of your home. So by selling part of your home, the remainder can be used to provide an inheritance for your loved ones.

It’s important that you involve anybody who you’d like to leave an inheritance to when arranging an equity release plan.

Relaxed Retirement Ltd actively encourages you to have close family or friends present for consultations to make sure everybody with a vested interest is aware of how equity release will affect any inheritance you wish to leave.

Although you can still leave a legacy to your loved ones, equity release will reduce the value of your estate. This service only offers lifetime mortgages, and does not cover home reversion plans.

Some lifetime mortgage providers offer what is known as a ‘drawdown’. This means that you only release the money you need from your home, when you need it. The advantage of this is that interest is only charged on the amount you release. Remember, a lifetime mortgage is secured against your home.

Yes, you can spend the money on almost anything you want – a holiday of a lifetime, giving gifts to family, securing a regular income, it’s up to you.

The amount you are able to release will depend on:

  • Your age
  • Your home’s value

Some medical conditions could mean that you qualify for an enhanced lifetime mortgage, which could mean you can release more money from your home. There are also other things that will affect the amount you can release, such as whether you want a joint plan with a spouse or partner, or whether you want to leave an inheritance.

Most lifetime mortgages carry a ‘no negative equity guarantee’ and, although the loan is secured against your home, it means that you’ll never owe more than your home is worth. With a lifetime mortgage, although there are usually no regular payments to make and nothing to pay back until the end of the plan, the amount you owe will continue to grow. Interest is applied on the amount borrowed and on the interest already accrued over the long-term.

Relaxed Retirement Ltd only recommends lifetime mortgage products that will never let you or your estate owe more than the value of your house.

Yes. There will generally be advice and arrangement fees, legal fees and valuation fees. While some of these may be able to be added to the amount you release, others may have to be paid upfront.

Remember that by adding fees to the amount of equity you release, the greater the proportion of your home that will be owed to the plan provider (or the less money you will be able to release).

Yes. with both types of equity release, you remain responsible for insuring the property and maintaining it, even if you take out a home reversion plan and sell 100% of your property.

This will depend on the type of plan that you take out:

  • Home Reversion Plan – Your home will be sold, with the percentage that you agreed to sell to the provider being repaid. These plans work by the provider buying its stake at under market value, so if you die in the early years it could end up that you sold part, or your whole home, cheaply.
  • Lifetime mortgage – Your home will be sold, with the amount you borrowed plus any interest being repaid to the lifetime mortgage provider. If you die soon after you take out your plan you won’t have accrued much interest, so the amount repaid will be close to the amount you originally released.

Although a lifetime mortgage is secured against your home, Relaxed Retirement Ltd will only recommend products that will never let you or your estate owe more than the value of your house.

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