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The average rate of a lifetime mortgage has reached a record low, whilst the number of available options is at an all-time high. The typical rate across lifetime mortgages has dropped below 4 per cent for the first time according to Moneyfacts, with the average rate now at 3.95 per cent – down from 4.49 … Read more
Retired homeowners who need to borrow to pay off an outstanding mortgage can now apply for a new unsecured loan designed specifically for this purpose. Previously homeowners needing to borrow large sums after they retired would have had to rely on either equity release or a retirement interest-only mortgage. Both of these routes involve taking a … Read more
Equity release advice may be causing ‘significant harm’: Regulator warns some customers are rushed through without the proper checks The results of an FCA review of equity release advice firms found ‘significant areas of concern’ in the way some were selling equity release Many advisers were told they are not doing enough to ensure customers … Read more
Rising numbers of older homeowners are resorting to equity release to help out loved ones during the coronavirus crisis. Despite the lockdown, equity release providers have handed out loans worth millions of pounds. Recent figures show that the proportion of borrowers using the wealth in their home to help out relatives had risen 20 per cent, from … Read more
Baby boomers are increasingly raiding the wealth tied up in their homes to supplement retirement incomes, research has revealed. Since 2015, homeowners have used property wealth to deliver £13billion in extra income via equity release, according to analysts at investment platform AJ Bell. Over the same period, since the start of pension freedoms, some £30billion … Read more
Equity release rates have plummeted to their lowest ever levels as demand for later life finance grows, research has revealed. But homeowners who are recommended a lifetime mortgage, where interest rolls up into the loan, could actually save tens of thousands of pounds by refusing equity release and taking a retirement interest-only mortgage. Last year … Read more
Sarah Davidson, of This is Money Sarah Davidson, of This is Money, writes: There is no direct evidence that advisers are deliberately pushing older mortgage borrowers into taking more expensive equity release loans. Anecdotally, though, I sometimes hear the suggestion that some advisers may not be as independent as they should. I have been told by … Read more
Sarah Davidson, of This is Money Sarah Davidson, of This is Money, writes: There is no direct evidence that advisers are deliberately pushing older mortgage borrowers into taking more expensive equity release loans. Anecdotally, though, I sometimes hear the suggestion that some advisers may not be as independent as they should. I have been told by … Read more
Older homeowners are on track to raid their homes for a record £5 billion of cash this year as lenders launch a raft of top equity release deals. These loans can be a lifeline for pensioners who are property rich but cash poor. They allow borrowers aged 55-plus to tap into the wealth built up … Read more