Cast your mind back for a moment. The Power of love is blasting from your radio, Madonna is getting into the groove, you’re experiencing that first sense of entertaining depression that can only be Eastenders, Live Aid love is taking the country by storm. Yes, it’s 1985 and the average UK home costs £35,436*. Now, [...]
Most of us are all too aware of just how difficult it is for youngsters to get their feet on the property ladder these days. And, unfortunately for our children and grandchildren, this doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon. Of course as parents and grandparents we all want to help our loved [...]
It wasn't long ago that equity release was a small, specialised area of the mortgage arena. To be honest, the equity release industry initially took a while to find its feet. It was some time before products were simple to understand, consumer-friendly, offered seriously attractive tax advantage and were – let's face it – trusted. [...]
Traditionally, when couples purchase a property, they do so as ‘Joint Tenants’. When taking out a mortgage, I’m sure that lenders have been happy with that type of arrangement as both clients are then financially liable to ensure the loan or mortgage is repaid. The alternative, ‘Tenants in Common’ has been used where people may [...]
We regularly hear and see comments about the role of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’. This comes as no surprise as many who already retired are now in a position to provide additional funds for their children. Many are happy to do so as they can see the benefits of the money and the [...]
So you have now decided that you want or need some capital and you feel that one option would be to release the money from your home via an Equity Release plan. You have considered the two main types of Equity Release, the Home Reversion and The Lifetime Mortgage and now you want to move [...]
When asked initially what they’re looking for from their Equity Release plan, most people will tell us how much money they would like to release along with an indication of what they want the money for. However, for the majority of clients, their main concern is also about ‘getting the best deal’ But what exactly [...]
Although there a number of ways of raising money on your property, perhaps through arranging a conventional mortgage or through down-sizing, you might want to consider using one of the Equity Release options. These are the Lifetime Mortgage or Home Reversion Plans. So here are a few of the main features of these plans. [...]
We’re seeing an increase in the amount information about Equity Release, in Newspapers and advertisements on the TV from providers such as Aviva and Legal & General, but is this something we should be considering, and if it is, where do we go to get the facts? Perhaps there are two places to start. The [...]
This weekend, The Sunday Times published an article by ex-tennis star Andrew Castle, who criticised 'rip-off' equity release schemes after one cost his elderly relatives £46,000. One of our recent clients has responded to this article, and we share his open letter below discussing his positive experience with Equity Release: Dear Money Editor, You invited comments [...]
