Equity Release guide discussion 26 June 2018 at 4:10PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Over 50s Money Saving 147 replies 60.7K views

TELLIT01

Downsizing isn't always a practical option. In the case of the leaky roof, it would have a serious effect on the value of the property. Quite probably reducing the sale price by more than the cost of repair. A smaller property won't necessarily leave the vendor with much in their pocket after the costs involved with selling and moving are taken into account.
Our neighbour looked at the possibility of moving from a 3 bed house to a 2 bed bungalow and they would literally have had no equity once essential work had been done on the bungalow to bring it up to modern standards.

Bluesdad

The proposal from Mr Corbyn is that everybody will get a lifetime gift allowance of £125,000. Any sum over that would be taxed at 40% so efforts to build up any inheritance for a relative above £125,000 is pretty pointless. In addition if you require to go into care the value of the equity in your house above £23,250 will go to pay for your care. That might be acceptable if you can purchase better quality care than local authority would pay for. In practice you will probably end up paying a much higher fee for the same care than the local authority pays and you will be subsiding individuals who have not been able to save for their care (fair enough) or who have lived extravagant lifestyles and made no attempt to save. (Chavs)

Equity release that leaves value in my house less than £125,000 and gives me cash to spend as I please rather than handing it over in tax to a government that despises self reliance seems more likely than I ever thought it would be.

hj711

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Downsizing isn't always a practical option. In the case of the leaky roof, it would have a serious effect on the value of the property. Quite probably reducing the sale price by more than the cost of repair. A smaller property won't necessarily leave the vendor with much in their pocket after the costs involved with selling and moving are taken into account.
Our neighbour looked at the possibility of moving from a 3 bed house to a 2 bed bungalow and they would literally have had no equity once essential work had been done on the bungalow to bring it up to modern standards.

I totally agree.. I bought a house 3 years ago .. big downsize for me to a house that needed substantial repairs.. it was an executor sale. It was a mess and took all my budget and more! Hence I am now in the situation of taking equity release to continue to bring it up to standard and have some money to live on as it has drained me completely. My only other option would have been to downsize again......groan!! Finding a cheaper home, stamp duty and other moving costs and probably needing work again would pose the same situation for me in a couple of years time.

The regulations of ER mean that you do have to keep the house in good repair but intrinsically that is the same with any mortgage.

missile

Repairs and alterations always seem to cost more than you think they will.

TELLIT01

In theory we would be able to get alterations to a new property done more easily as my sister-in-law is married to a builder. In reality they are so busy they wouldn't be able to do the work!

bumblebeebee

would equity release companies take on a property which , although we have lived in it since 1990 , have only just managed to register last year with the land registry under a possessory title as we have lost the original deeds.
Even though we have provided evidence of occupation , original plans for conversion drawn up by me and submitted and passed by local council in 1991:, original sales literature from vendor , solicitors receipts for sale of property , bank statements showing sale , etc ,etc , but not enough to satisfy the land registry.
After £1400 solicitors fee that's what we end up with, presumably no E R firm would entertain us ?

missile

I would make an enquiry and ask :-)

venison

We downsized 8 years ago to a park home, our net savings to date are around £15000 and we are or course mortgage free, its not for everyone but suits others and around 200,000 people UK wide, we also get the benefit of living in a select park in rural derbyshire with no children allowed.

Tigerrod

The advantages of a Drawdown Lifetime Mortgage are summarised in the MSE Guide. I would like to know if anyone has any experience of taking a 2nd+ Drawdown from their Reserve. If so, did the interest rate applied seem reasonable compared to the rate set for the initial Drawdown, for the amount being Drawn down, and in the prevailing interest rate climate? I am concerned that an attractive lower rate for the initial Drawdown may be the carrot that pulls the Borrower into an arrangement where the Lender could charge unreasonably higher / extortionate rates for subsequent Drawdowns. Thanks

Onlooker

The Tonight program on ITV Hub at 7.30 pm Thurs 7/11/19 will give an insight to the financial negative effect that will arise for anyone borrowing monies this way Leaving the risk of owing double or even treble the amount a large debt taken out of your property in your future.
There are cheaper alternatives and maybe,we hope, better times in the future to get involved in any kind of debt.Consider