There is always a cost Omah. I would not like to see my property whittled away by equity release. It would worry me and I would know the home I was living in was no longer completely my own and I did not have full control of it. Even if I went into a home it would be better to find something which was not reliant on SS and I could pay my way living in a good quality of accommodation with the value of my house sale,rather than making do with the minimum provided by SS because I could not afford anything else.
Also a bank loan or a mortgage carries a far less interest rate than an equity release loan. When it is worked out equity release is quite expensive.
Erm … what interest?
Those are choices that the individual must make.
Indeed it is, but you don’t have to pay it back until you no longer care.
There are many who are not able to find the hundreds of pounds per month required to pay back a bank loan over a period of years.
Dood I meant to say the interest that is charged on equity release is a daily rolling interest from what I’ve been told .
Historically equity release has a really bad reputation but I understand there are new laws limiting the amount that can be released.
I’m told Nationwide have some reasonable deals for ER and applicants are given one-to-one consultations.
I pay off the mortgage on my home in 9 months. There is no way in hell I would encumber the property again. I would rather die poor and leave my children a nest egg then to piss away my equity.
Over here, “reverse mortgages” are highly advertised and pushed as if they were “free” money. It is a damn shame because they take advantage of people who are not sophisticated enough to realize what they are doing.
I had a friend who reversed the scam on predatory lenders. He was dying, and knew he only had a year or so to live. He had no kids or other close relatives, so he took every mortgage that any lender would give him and partied his ass off, leaving the crooks in the lurch! The bankers could not have gotten a third of their money back when they sold the property.
Way to go Cliff!
Hi
Not a Fan of Equity Release
I took the decision to downsize massively and buy a house designed for my Son, who is Epileptic.
He cannot drive, or even ride a bike.
It is small, a 3 Bed End Terrace, walking distance of everything.
It is very, very, different from the big house I had.
It is his when I die, no mortgage to pay off, no Funeral Bills.
I give him money out of my Income, which does not attract Inheritance Tax.
One of the main reasons for equity release is to help your children financially before you die. When that time comes, they get less - and they know that! 
Thanks Susan, I thought that’s what you meant, but I didn’t know there was any interest charged.
I thought ER meant selling a % of your home, you continue to live there till you die, the place is sold , the ER people take their %, your inheritors take the rest. I’m sure it’s not quite that simple, and there are admin fees …
There are various ways of releasing the equity in your home, depending on what it is you wish to achieve. Your personal circumstances, whether or not you have family you might wish to leave an inheritance to, etc., etc.
I haven’t become involved in this and doubtful if I ever would. Basically though, other than the person who wishes to gain from using a scheme such as this to meet whatever their needs for this may be, there is only one ‘winner’, the company the arrangements are made with. That is what they are in it for, to make money, that is why they are in business.
As posted previously by myself, always take good advice and go into all this thoroughly if considering this is the way you wish to go.
There is lots of advice out there but obviously look for independent advice. The links below explain about equity release and are just two of many where advice can be found:
So … many different ‘plans’ on offer, some with different names. One plan with a dodgy company can give other plans and providers a bad name.
I guess two things are for sure …
The ER company never loses out.
You never lose out, coz you’re dead.
That is about the sum of it and possibly it’s like everything in life. It’s all ‘dodgy’ if used wrongly which is why it’s so important to look at what happens eventually, not to what is to be gained immediately. That is of course, if there is any interest in future events. For some there is not, that is their prerogative to do with their own assets what they will.
If going in for equity release of any kind the old maxim of ‘caveat emptor’ is a good one to bear in mind though. 
Thanks everyone food for thought?
I wonder what would happen to banks or rather, what will banks do, with these reverse mortgages if the Coronavirus does kill 1% of the population and house prices plummet?
It is mostly the elderly that take out these schemes and the mortality rates for them is higher than the general population.
It is not like those share portfolio margin loans where the bank can ask borrowers to pay them money if the value of the shares falls.
Spare a thought for those young people who have a massive mortgage if house prices dive and the house is worth less than the money they owe if such a disaster happens (let’s hope it doesn’t but it is interesting to consider)
They’ll take the hit and sack their actuaries.
Good move RS ,Good luck to you!!
Donkeyman!
equity
what about sell my house and rent a flat?