The Question
My mum would like to release equity from her home to help fund renovations following a recent hospital stay. We wondered how easy it is to take out equity release, how long the process takes and how we get started. Thanks for your help.
Mark’s Answer
Thank you for your question and I do hope your mum is making a speedy recovery from her stay in hospital. I have been an adviser and business owner within Equity Release for over 20 years and the advice process I adhere too has never changed.
If your mum is over 55 and she owns her own home worth more than £70,000 she is likely to be eligible for equity release. However, it depends on the type of property your mum lives in and if there are any existing mortgages secured on her home.
Firstly, you need to take financial advice to ensure that equity release is the best solution for your mums’ circumstances as there may be several options for her regarding raising capital for her planned objectives.
Our advisers are totally independent experts who have access to all solutions for raising capital and they will only make a formal recommendation once they have assessed your mums’ circumstances and options.
This bespoke recommendation will contain the features and benefits of what your mum can have access too, and they will explain the risks and effects of equity release in detail to ensure she is entirely happy with the best solution.
Depending on your mum’s personal situation, they may also check to see whether she is eligible for any benefits or even grants for any planned work she intends to carry out.
Following the advice, an application would be made, and your mum’s home would be independently valued and then the provider may make an offer. At this time, your mum would take independent face-to-face legal advice to ensure she is entirely happy with the plan and to ensure all the conveyancing is completed on her behalf.
If the application proceeds to completion, her solicitor will receive the funds and take their fee and the advice fee that is only payable at completion and not before, and then your mum would receive her capital. The whole process can take six to eight weeks. However, this is driven by your mum as it depends on how she feels once the adviser has completed an assessment of her circumstances and made that bespoke recommendation.
To start I would strongly suggest you visit my website and ‘find an adviser’ who is local to your area, and they will be happy to discuss your plans in more detail without obligation and this consultation is free of charge. They will explain all of the fees associated with equity release and they can provide details of an expert independent solicitor if you do not have access to one.
Additionally, we have a section on the Equity Release Supermarket website – ‘What is equity release?’ which explains the whole process for you. Alternatively, you could call our freephone number – 0800 802 1051 where one of equity release team would be willing to assist.
Meet our expert…
Mark Gregory, founder and CEO of Equity Release Supermarket, is here to answer your questions. Mark is an adviser himself with over 20 years equity release experience.
He launched Equity Release Supermarket 10 years ago and it has grown to become one of the UK’s leading equity release specialists.
Email kate.saines@emap.com to ask Mark a question
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