How to best use my flat to retire and help family member

jamesd

kidmugsy wrote: »

My memory is that there is a mode of equity release where you don't need to drawdown the whole amount from the mortgage company at the beginning. You could start with, say, £50k, and then take a bit more year after year as your earnings and expenditure pattern changes.

Yes and those sell more than the other types. But there's a massive catch: at age 60 they don't come close to paying enough to retire well on.

That's partly because of their higher interest rates and partly because of the requirement that the property value at the end has to cover the debt. To do that they cut back on the amount that can be borrowed.

There are places that'll give online quotes but don't expect to be impressed by the amount of money that can be released or what it implies for the possible retirement income level. To get that to good levels really does take selling and moving, even if just to another place in London that has convenient tube links.

How about you looking at one of those quotes and plugging the numbers into cIREsim to see what the income level ends up being? You'll probably see why I didn't bother, given what I also know about London cost of living.

atush

I would sell and buy another flat in london, Still reasonably central, and near a tube/mainline station.

Easy enough to get to your old neighborhood, save and invest the excess cash in pension and ISa and gift your niece some cash for a deposit. Or buy a 2 bed and she can move in with you.