Equity release in Wirral.
A way for homeowners aged 55 and over to take money out of their home without moving. For some people it is the right answer, and this page explains who. It does reduce what you leave behind, so both sides are set out here, along with the questions worth asking.
In one minute
- If you are 55 or over and own your home in the Wirral, you can borrow against it and carry on living there, as the owner.
- The money is tax free and yours to spend as you choose, and you usually make no monthly payments at all.
- Nothing is repaid while you live there. The loan and the interest are settled when you die or move into long-term care, normally out of selling the house.
- Because interest is added each year and then charged again the next, what you owe grows faster the longer it runs, and it comes out of what you leave behind.
- It can affect benefits you receive, such as Pension Credit or Council Tax Support, because you would then hold more in savings.
- Hunter Grey does not advise on this. We put you in touch with a qualified adviser at a firm that is regulated to do so. There is no cost and no obligation for that call.
What people use it for.
- A mortgage that is ending. Reaching the end of an interest-only mortgage with no way of repaying what is left is the commonest reason of all. The alternative is often being made to sell the house.
- Staying put. A stairlift, a wet room, a downstairs bathroom, a ramp. The adaptations that make it possible to stay in your own home instead of moving out of it.
- Helping children or grandchildren. Usually a deposit. Giving them the money while it is useful to them rather than when you are gone.
- Clearing dearer debts. Credit cards and personal loans can cost a great deal more than a lifetime mortgage does.
- A pension that does not stretch. Topping up month to month, or a lump sum for something particular.
- Care at home. Paying for help at home, so that moving into a care home can be put off or avoided altogether.
Those are the reasons people come to us with. Whether any of them makes equity release the right answer for you is a different question, and it is the one an adviser is there to answer.
How it actually works.
The usual arrangement is called a lifetime mortgage. You borrow a lump sum against your home. You stay living there and the house stays in your name. Nothing is repaid while you live there.
Interest is charged on what you borrowed. Unless you choose to pay it, it is added to the loan. The following year, interest is charged on that larger figure. That is what people mean by interest "rolling up", and it is the part most worth understanding.
Put simply: borrow a sum and make no payments, and what you owe can roughly double over about fifteen years, then keep growing. Borrow at 60 rather than 75 and it has fifteen more years to do that in.
There are gentler versions. You can take the money in stages instead of all at once, so interest only runs on what you have actually taken. Some plans let you pay the interest each month, so the debt stops growing. Some let you protect a share of the value for your family. Which of these suits you, if any, is what an adviser is for.
Our longer explanation, with the effect on tax and inheritance set out in full, is on the main equity release page.
This is a lifetime mortgage. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration. Nothing on this page is advice, a recommendation, or an offer. It is general information about how equity release works.
The risks to understand.
These are the points an adviser will take you through, and they are in your paperwork too. They are here so you meet them early rather than late.
- It reduces what you leave behind. The loan and the interest are repaid out of your home, usually when it is sold. That is money your family would otherwise have inherited. For many people this is the deciding point.
- The amount you owe grows over time. If you make no payments, the interest is added to the loan, and the following year's interest is charged on that larger amount. The longer it runs, the more it grows.
- It can affect your benefits. Having more money in savings can reduce what you receive from Pension Credit or Council Tax Support. Check this before you take any money, not after.
- Early repayment charges can be significant. Repaying a lifetime mortgage early usually costs money, so it is not a decision that is easily reversed.
- It may affect your options later. Taking money out now can reduce or remove your ability to borrow against your home again, or to move.
- Involve your family. It changes what you are able to leave them, so they have a stake in it. Most advisers will encourage you to bring someone with you, and so do we.
Is it right for you?
It may suit you if
You are comfortably over 55, you intend to stay in this house, you have no other money to draw on, and the people who would inherit know what you are thinking of doing and are content with it.
Or if a mortgage is ending and you have no way of repaying it, and the alternative is being made to sell.
It may not suit you if
You are in your late fifties and could wait. You might move within a few years. You have savings or a pension you have not yet drawn on. There are benefits you are entitled to and not claiming. Or someone else is the one keen for you to do it.
There is no deadline here. If anyone makes you feel rushed, that is a good reason to take more time.
Other ways to raise the money.
Equity release is one answer among several. An adviser is required to go through the others with you, so it helps to know what they are beforehand.
- Moving somewhere smaller. It releases money with no interest building up at all. It is a wrench, and for some people it is out of the question, but over twenty years the difference is enormous. Rule it out deliberately, not by avoiding the thought.
- An ordinary mortgage, or a retirement interest-only one. If you have an income, paying the interest each month costs far less in the end, because the debt stops growing.
- Savings, pensions and investments. Spending money you already have is nearly always cheaper than borrowing against the house.
- Benefits you are not claiming. A great many older households are entitled to money they never ask for. Check that before you borrow against your home. Age UK and Citizens Advice will both do it with you, free.
- Asking your family. An awkward conversation now is often better than a much smaller inheritance later, and families frequently say yes once they understand the alternative.
What lenders ask about round here.
Lenders look at the house as well as the person, and they are fussier than an ordinary mortgage lender, because the loan has no end date. These are the things that come up most in the Wirral.
- A great range in one place Large detached houses around Caldy and Heswall. Victorian and Edwardian terraces through Birkenhead and Wallasey. Nineteen-thirties semis across Greasby, Pensby and Moreton. Older seaside houses at Hoylake and New Brighton. The right lender is a different one for each.
- Near the coast or the estuary Homes close to the water can raise two questions: flood risk, and whether the walls were built or rendered to cope with the weather rather than in ordinary brick. Neither is automatically a bar. Both reduce the number of lenders who will look, and both are far better raised early.
- Older terraces Much of Birkenhead and Wallasey is Victorian terracing with solid walls, built before houses had a cavity between the inner and outer brickwork. Most lenders are comfortable with that. Valuations do vary more than in the suburbs, and some lenders set a lowest property value they will go to.
- Seaside houses turned into flats Hoylake, West Kirby and New Brighton have older houses divided into flats. If you own a flat, you own a lease: the right to live there for a set number of years, and lenders want plenty of years still to run, because equity release has no end date.
Where we cover. West Kirby, Hoylake, Caldy, Heswall, Irby, Pensby, Greasby, Bebington, Bromborough, Birkenhead, Wallasey, New Brighton and Moreton, and the surrounding area. An adviser will come to your home anywhere in the Wirral, or speak to you by telephone or video if you would rather not have a visitor.
This describes how lenders generally treat these kinds of home. It is not a statement of any particular lender's rules today, and it is not advice about your own house. An adviser will establish where you actually stand.
What happens, step by step.
So you know what you are agreeing to before you agree to it. You can stop at any of these points and nothing happens.
You tell us you are considering it
By the form below or on the phone. No credit check. Nothing recorded against your name. You are not applying for anything.
We pass you to an adviser
Only if you tick the box asking us to. They are qualified and their firm is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Hunter Grey is not, which is exactly why we do not advise you ourselves.
They talk it through with you
At your house anywhere in the Wirral, or by phone or video. Bring whoever you want. Ask them anything. This conversation costs you nothing.
They give you the alternatives
They have to. If equity release is not the best answer for you, they are required to say so and to tell you what is.
You get it in writing
Including what you would owe in ten and twenty years. Take it away. Show it to your family. Sleep on it for as long as you want.
You decide, in your own time
There is no deadline and nothing expires. Walking away at this point is a perfectly normal outcome and nobody will chase you.
What to ask the adviser.
Print this page or write these down. A good adviser will be glad you asked.
- What will I owe in ten, fifteen and twenty years if I make no payments? Ask for the figures in writing. This is the single most useful thing you can see.
- What happens if I want to move? And what happens if the home I want to move to is one the lender will not accept.
- What is the early repayment charge, how long does it last, and when does it not apply?
- Can I protect part of the value for my family, and what does that cost me?
- Will this affect my Pension Credit, Council Tax Support or anything else I receive?
- What are all the fees, who gets paid, and when? Including yours.
- Is there a cheaper way of achieving what I actually want? A good adviser will have an answer ready, because they should already have considered it.
Useful to have to hand: a rough idea of what your home is worth, what is left on your mortgage if anything, your age and your partner's, any benefits you receive, and a sense of what you want the money for. Estimates are fine. Nobody is holding you to them.
Wirral, answered.
Is flood risk going to stop me?
Usually not, but it is a question lenders ask about some addresses near the water, and the answer affects which of them will look at your home. Knowing where you stand before you apply saves paying for a valuation that goes nowhere.
My house is rendered rather than brick. Does that matter?
It depends what is underneath. Render over ordinary brick or block is nothing unusual. Render hiding concrete or another non-standard material is what lenders care about, and a valuer will want to establish which it is.
Is there a lowest property value?
Most lenders set one, and it differs between them. At the lower end of the Wirral market this occasionally matters, which is a good reason to have an adviser check the figures before you make plans around them.
Can I make sure my children still get something?
Some plans let you ring-fence a percentage of your home's eventual value, so the loan cannot swallow it. It is often called an inheritance guarantee. It reduces how much you can release and it usually costs something on the rate. Whether that trade is worth it for you is exactly what an adviser is there to work through.
The other areas we cover.
Cheshire East
Equity release and lifetime mortgages for homeowners across Cheshire East.
Read moreCheshire West and Chester
Equity release and lifetime mortgages for homeowners across Cheshire West and Chester.
Read moreStockport
Equity release and lifetime mortgages for homeowners across Stockport.
Read moreTrafford
Equity release and lifetime mortgages for homeowners across Trafford.
Read moreAsk for a call back.
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will arrange a call. It costs nothing, it commits you to nothing, and you can stop at any point. One of our qualified FCA-approved partners will go through the options with you and, if a product suits you, recommend one.