Equity release questions

Yes. Repaying in full may carry an early repayment charge, and partial repayments are allowed without penalty on every plan meeting Equity Release Council standards since March 2022. The full answer.

It can. Releasing money and holding it as savings can create deemed income for means-tested benefits and reduce or end an award. The full answer.

It can, if the money is released as a lump sum and held as savings. Wales runs its own capital limit for means-tested residential care funding, currently £50,000, against £23,250 in England, so the same lump sum can be under the Welsh limit and over the English one. Which limit applies follows where your main home is. The full answer.

It can, for the accommodation part of a care home bill. Scotland pays personal care at a flat weekly rate to everyone a council assesses as needing it, whatever their capital, but the remaining accommodation charge is means-tested against Scotland's own capital limits of £22,750 and £36,750. A lump sum held as savings counts towards those limits. The full answer.

It can, if the money is released as a lump sum and held as savings. Northern Ireland uses the same capital limits as England for means-tested residential and nursing care, £23,250 and £14,250, confirmed unchanged for 2026/27 by the Department of Health. A lump sum that takes your capital over £23,250 can mean paying the full cost of care from your own funds, and Scotland and Wales both apply higher figures of their own. The full answer.

Yes, and it may carry an early repayment charge. Some are fixed and taper away over the early years; others are linked to gilt yields and can be substantial. The charge is waived where you move permanently into long-term care.

Plans meeting Equity Release Council standards must allow you to move to a suitable alternative property and take the mortgage with you, subject to the lender's criteria at the time. Some property types are not acceptable, so raise it early if a move is likely.

It reduces the value of your estate, because the debt is deducted from it. Whether that saves tax depends on whether your estate would have been taxable at all. If you borrow against your home to reduce a tax bill, compare the interest that will roll up with the tax saved, because the interest can outrun the saving.

It can. Releasing a lump sum and holding it as savings can create deemed income for Pension Credit: above £10,000 of savings, every £500 counts as £1 a week of income. Council tax support and other means-tested help can be affected too, so it has to be checked beforehand.

With a lifetime mortgage, yes. It is a loan secured against the property and you remain the owner. A home reversion plan is different, because you sell a share of the property, and this firm does not advise on those.

Some plans let you ring-fence a percentage of the value as guaranteed inheritance, which reduces how much you can borrow. Paying the interest also preserves more of the value.