Lifetime Mortgages

A lifetime mortgage is a type of equity release, a loan secured against your home that allows you to release tax-free cash that you have tied up in your home and you can still continue to live there.

Lifetime mortgages are available to homeowners aged 55 or over. You can take the money as a lump sum or as a series of lump sums. 

It gives you tax-free cash to spend however you wish and there is nothing to repay until you either die or move permanently into long-term care. You might be able to ring-fence some of the value of your property as an inheritance for your family.

So whether you’re looking to pay off an existing mortgage, make some home improvements, or gift money to a family member, a lifetime mortgage could help.

To be eligible to release equity from your home with one of the available lifetime mortgages:

• You must be aged 55 or over.
• You must own (or be buying) your own home, with little or no mortgage left to pay.
• Your home must be worth at least £70,000 or £100,000 depending on your property type.

If there’s not enough money left from the sale to repay the mortgage, your beneficiaries might have to repay any extra above the value of your home from your estate. However, to guard against this, most lifetime mortgages offer a no-negative-equity guarantee (Equity Release Council standard). With this guarantee, the lender promises that you (or your beneficiaries) will never have to pay back more than the value of your home.

For more information about releasing funds from your home call Asset Harbour on 01276 986333