What Determines The Percentage That I Can Get From Equity Release?

Your age and health
Property value and condition
Outstanding debts

Age and Health– With equity release plans available to people from 55 and over, you will typically be eligible to borrow a smaller amount if you are closer to 55. This is because it will take longer for the equity release lender to recover their investment, especially if you live for another 20, 30 or 50 years.

Usually the most you can release as a person aged 55 is around 28% of your property’s value. For more information and options, see equity release for under 55.

However, if you are older and living in your 70s and 80s, this could make you eligible to release higher percentages of 50% or 60% of the property’s value.Your health status may also be taken into account, since someone with ongoing medical conditions may be viewed differently in terms of what percentage they can release.

Property Value – The value and condition of your property will be important when determining how much you can release and what percentage – since the equity release lender ideally needs to lend against something that will maintain or increase in value over time. Your property will be subject to a professional valuation prior to approval, but other factors include the type of property, the condition, the materials of the building, average house values in the area and its potential growth.

Outstanding Debts – An equity release provider will need to consider any other outstanding debts that you have both secured and unsecured. The lender will assess whether you have an outstanding mortgage and any other secured loans since these will ideally need to be cleared for the equity release plan to go ahead and for the lender to take first charge of the property. If you have a lot of debts outstanding, this may require the lender to offer you a higher percentage to pay these off, whilst taking your age and property value also into consideration.