Property equity release: opinions and/or experience of, please.

If you don’t need the money why is your DH even considering it?
The received wisdom is that it’s a very bad idea.

Well your last sentence makes it sound as though you’d be frittering it away just for the sake of spending. Why sign your house over to someone else if you don’t need to?

Lifetime mortgages are not necessarily a bad thing if you can afford to pay the interest regularly. The amount owed is the same at the end as it was at the beginning. If house prices rise then it is a decreasing proportion of the value of your house.

They are portable and only become payable when the last one of you dies or goes into a care home.

If you dont pay the interest then it rolls up - that is not a good thing.

Although, as Jane says, unless you need it for something it seems unnecessary.

Equity release schemes are heavily promoted by those companies who offer them for a reason. Someone makes a lot of profit - and it isn’t the homeowner. Older homeowners are easy targets for predatory salesmen. They will sell you the dream of no-strings-attached ready money and neglect to mention how much you lose out.

If you have an urgent need for a lump sum of money to pay a debt or something, it might be a reasonable thing to do, but otherwise, you will end up worse off, not richer. If you want to free up the capital in your house, sell it on the open market and buy somewhere cheaper, or rent.

I don't see why your hubby would be thinking of borrowing against your property when you don't need the funds.
Equity release is not something you would go into without a lot of thought.
There are different type, be very careful what you step into.

Neighbours of my parents did this . We never understood why as they didn't seem short of cash but they had a visit from their wonderful financial adviser and ended up borrowing about 25 grand.

This was back in the late 90s

Their home was valued at 125k so they borrowed 25 and that was that.

They seemed oblivious to the fact that they would end up paying back something. They would insist that it was free money. No interest to pay!

The wife ended up in a home. This would be paid for once her husband had either gone into a home or died.

He eventually passed away. House had to be valued by the bank which had lent them this money.

The deal they had was the 25K would be paid back along with 75% of any profit over 125k

House sold for 400 k which meant their children didn't inherit as much as they could have done. They weren't banking on an inheritance but it caused quite a lot of bother at the time and of course it was a bit galling to see so much money going to the bank just for a loan of 25k many years earlier.

my brother in law and her husband took one out awhile ago and were fit and healthy, 3 bed house, I think it paid for a garden makover. Their 2 children live in the south, they live in NW. Their dd wanted parents to move closer so she could keep an eye on them. They could not, they were financially trapped. Now in their 80s and fading, they are having to rely on social services. Their choices have gone because of the money lent through equity release

There is no free lunch

My stupid mother did it!
Once the house was sold when she went into a home she paid back over double what she borrowed.
The equity release company had a charge on the house, they could have sold the house for as little as they wished to recoup their money.
I didn’t inform them until I had sold the house.

I have a lifetime mortgage and for me it was the only option to pay off the ex without selling my house. I do pay the interest each year and don't owe any more now than when I started. Also my house has increased in value so I currently owe a smaller percentage than I borrowed. I also try to over pay when possible reducing the amount outstanding. I wouldn't have done it had I had options but at the time no one was willing to lend me the money needed. I certainly wouldn't do it to pay for holidays or buy a property abroad but each to their own. You don't sound as though you need it so why do it?

Thanks for all your replies.I think husband's idea is that we put the money towards a small holiday flat in this country that our family could enjoy.
I need to do my homework on this, as he is very much a ' live the dream' type of person, I'm much more cautious.

Then a Lifetime Mortgage might be just the thing.

A mortgage might be much cheaper if they'll lend to you and they have certainly loosened up since I needed mine. Also equity release will only advance about a quarter to a third of the value of your current property.

We have taken out a lifetime mortgage through Legal and General. We purchased our house for cash, did a huge renovation job and had a lovely home and no mortgage, a few months later the render both inside and out has failed through poor workmanship. We have spent over two years trying to get the builder to right the wrong. We have to re-render the exterior to protect the fabric of the building so we took on the Lifetime Mortgage at 2.9% fixed for 20 years, to pay for it we'll have to go through the courts to recoup our losses.
To answer your questions, as long as we pay the interest we will not owe more than we borrowed. We can take it with us if we move as long as the new property is of a value greater than the capital amount. If interest rates fall we may have to pay a fee to pay it back if we want to but if rates rise L&G will be glad to have the money back to lend to someone else at a higher rate so no fee.
If you decide to go for it, now is a good time while rates are falling.
If we go in to a home or we die, our family will have twelve months to sell the house without incurring fees as long as they continue to pay the interest.
Obviously we hope to be reimbursed by the builder including paid interest but that's another matter.

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I have just done this to get work done on the house. I was trying to sell, but the sales kept falling through, and offers were too low as some work is needed! so I went for this option. I liked the idea that I could pay to keep the loan the same or reduce it each year but not have to pay on a set day every month, so that if I can’t make a payment one month, it won’t matter.
As I have been only working part time since my illness I couldn’t get a regular mortgage, and this seemed a good option for me.

I have only ever come across two people who have done equity release and both have regretted it, one of them was a man whose house we were interested in buying and two sales had fallen through because of legal complexities posed by him having the equity release on his property. It may have been the type of arrangement he had but it is worth considering the legal implications. Some kind of mortgage sounds a much better idea if a reputable company is used.

Mine is portable so if I need to sell I can take it with me just like a mortgage

Most these days are portable assuming the property you move to is of equal value or you can repay half the outstanding amount if you want to downsize.

That's not a very respectful way to refer to your mother - the person who gave you life

Oops! That was for Missfoodlove