Your Questions

Bower Retirement Services provides specialist, independent advice on equity release plans in retirement.

Here we provide further details about equity release and aim to answer the most common questions asked. If having read this information you still require further advice then please feel free to contact us and we will happily answer any questions you have, in person.

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1. 1. What is equity?

   Equity is the value of your property less any debt such as a mortgage.

2. 2. What is equity release?

   Equity release allows you to unlock the equity in your home without having to sell up and move out so that you can have money to spend on whatever you want or need. An equity release plan is a potential retirement planning option for homeowners.

3. 3. Am I eligible for equity release?

   To be eligible for an equity release plan you need to be a home owner. If you own your home with a partner then both of you need to be aged 55 or over at the time of application.

4. 4. What can equity release be used for?

   Equity release can be used for a variety of things including:

   • Increasing disposable income
   • Funding retirement
   • Home improvements
   • Providing financial help to family members or friends
   • Taking a dream holiday or regular breaks
   • Repayment of an existing mortgage
   • As a temporary stop-gap to tide you over financially whilst you wait for your pension, an inheritance or any other tied-up investments to be released – once you have the cash you’ve been waiting for, you can pay off your loan
   • Funding the purchase of a new home at a higher value than your existing property
   • Improving or maintaining a lifestyle standard
   • Enjoying hobbies and pastimes
   • Buying a new car
   • Paying for a carer, gardener or cleaner
   • Reducing the value of your estate and mitigating Inheritance Tax

5. 5. Is Equity Release right for me?

   To allow us to answer that question accurately, we will need to talk to you and we can do this in your own home, with a family member in attendance if you wish to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Whilst thousands of people do benefit from equity release there are several points to consider before entering into any plan and in some circumstances there are other options that could provide what you are looking for.

6. 6. What are the alternatives to Equity Release?

   An equity release plan can prove to be a useful retirement planning option for homeowners. However, there are alternatives to be considered than could prove a more effective financial solution and Bower Retirement Services will fully discuss these with you as part of your free initial consultation. These include:

   • Moving to a smaller or less expensive property
   • Accepting financial support from family and friends
   • Claiming your entitlement to means tested benefits
   • Local Authority home improvement grants
   • Using savings or unlocking existing investments
   • Using a traditional mortgage

7. 7. How Safe is Equity Release?

   Many people ask if equity release is safe and are worried that they will lose their home as a result of taking out an equity release plan. You WILL NOT lose your home as long as you take out an equity release plan endrosed by SHIP as their guarantee means you will retain the right to remain in your property for life providing it remains your main residence. Bower Retirement Services is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and only recommends equity release products endorsed by Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP).

   Equity release has become safer since its regulation by the FSA. Healthy competition in the market place has also meant products are more flexible than they were a few years ago meaning more choices and better rates for homeowners. However, taking specialist advice is crucial to ensure you receive the best product on the market tailored to your circumstances.

8. 8. What are SHIP endorsed equity release plans?

   Bower Retirement Services recommends products endorsed by SHIP because they hold certain guarantees that are in your best interests. These guarantees are as follows:

   • No Negative Equity Guarantee – you or your family will never owe more than the value of your home
   • You will not lose your home and can remain there for as long as you wish providing it remains your main residence
   • No debt left to your loved ones
   • Cash released is tax-free
   • You can move to another suitable property without financial penalty
   • You can choose whether to receive a cash sum or regular income payments
   • There is no need to take a full lump sum in one go
   • You retain the right to select a solicitor of your choice. This solicitor will be made aware of the details of the benefits of your chosen plan before completion so they can provide you with an independent legal opinion before signing your SHIP certificate. This certificate ensures you are aware of the terms of the plan and the implications of it on your estate.

9. 9. Why take independent equity release advice?

   There are several equity release plans to choose from and choosing the right one for your specific circumstances is vital because it could result in considerable long-term savings. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) states that should you opt not to take independent financial advice and go on to choose an unsuitable equity release scheme then you will have fewer grounds for complaint. Bower Retirement Services is regulated by the FSA and provides independent financial advice specifically on equity release.

10. 10. What happens if my partner or I need long-term care?

    Your equity release scheme will usually carry on unchanged if care is provided in your own home or if one of you moves to a residential or nursing home. If you both move into a care home, the scheme will usually end and the property will be sold.

11. 11. Can the equity release provider change the agreement?

    No. You can rest assured your arrangement cannot change from the original contract signed with your solicitor.

12. 12. What if I decide to move home or to repay the loan?

    You can transfer your equity release plan to your new home if you move providing the property meets the criteria of your equity release plan provider at that time. You may also be able to repay your loan using an appropriate product without financial penalty.

13. 13. Are there different types of regulated equity release?

    Yes; there are three different types of regulated equity release, each of which will be fully explained to you during your initial consultation and we will show you clear examples of how each of them works.

    • Lifetime Mortgages
    • Lifetime Mortgage with flexible cash release
    • Home Reversion Plans

    Lifetime Mortgages

    Here the provider lends a percentage of the property’s value. You are charged interest on the loan but unlike an ordinary mortgage, there are no monthly repayments and no set term.

    The loan continues until you vacate the property at which point the original sum borrowed plus any interest must be repaid.

    Lifetime mortgages are sometimes referred to as ‘reverse mortgages’ in other English speaking countries.

    Lifetime Mortgage with Flexible Cash Release

    As above but with a regular cash reserve option allowing you to withdraw amounts at a frequency you choose up to a specified amount of years, or until the cash reserve has been used up.

    Interest is added to the loan each month and no repayments are required during your lifetime. Interest is only charged when or if withdrawals are made.

    Home Reversion Plans
    Under this type of plan you sell your home or a percentage of it in exchange for a lump sum or monthly income, or a combination of both. You can stay in the property for life or until you wish to sell it, at which point the provider will reclaim that percentage of the sale price.

    With these plans, there is no build-up of interest so they are sometimes favoured over the Lifetime Mortgage schemes.

14. 14. What Equity Release Providers do you use?

    Bower Retirement Services are whole of market equity release advisers which means we deal with all of the equity release product providers and have access to all available plans.

    We deal with the following equity release scheme providers:

    • Liverpool Victoria
    • Aviva (Norwich Union)
    • Bridgewater
    • Hodge Lifetime
    • Home & Capital
    • Just Retirement

15. 15. What areas of the UK do you cover?

    Bower Retirement Services has a team of independent equity release advisers covering the whole of the UK; the following is just a small selection of the areas our UK equity release advice service covers but please be assured that wherever you are in the United Kingdom, Bower’s independent advisers will visit you to provide face to face advice on equity release:

    • Equity Release Advice Avon
      Bath, Bradley Stoke, Bristol, Clevedon, Keynsham, Nailsea, Portishead, Thornbury, Weston super Mare, Yate, and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Avon
    • Equity Release Advice Bedfordshire
      Bedford, Biggleswade, Bourne End, Cranfield, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Luton and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Bedfordshire
    • Equity Release Advisers Berkshire
      Windsor, Reading, Maidenhead, Slough, Wokingham, Bracknell, Hungerford, Newbury, Thatcham and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Berkshire
    • Equity Release Advice Buckinghamshire
      Amersham, Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Bletchley, Buckingham, Chesham, Chiltern, High Wycombe, Marlow, Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell, Princes Risborough, Wendover, Winslow and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Buckinghamshire
    • Equity Release Specialist Advice Cambridgeshire 
      Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, March, Peterborough, Newmarket and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Cambridgeshire
    • Equity Release Advice Derbyshire
      Alfreton, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Belper, Bolsover, Buxton, Chesterfield, Derby, Dronfield, Eckington, Fairfield, Glossop, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Matlock, New Mills, Ripley, Sandiacre, Staveley, Swadlincote, Tansley, Wirksworth and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Derbyshire
    • Equity Release Advice Dorset
      Blandford Forum, Bournemouth, Bridport, Christchurch, Dorchester, Ferndown, Gillingham, Lyme Regis, Poole, Shaftesbury, Swanage, Verwood, Weymouth and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Dorset
    • Equity Release Advice East Sussex
      Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, Lewe and all towns, boroughs and parishes of East Sussex
    • Equity Release Advice Essex
      Brentwood, Loughton, Ongar, Epping, Chelmsford, Maldon, Romford, Upminster, Hornchurch, Dagenham, Barking, Ilford, Southend, Basildon, Grays, Thurrock, Braintree, Colchester, Saffron Waldon, Waltham Abbey and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Essex
    • Equity Release Advice Gloucestershire
      Cheltenham, Chipping Campden, Chipping Sodbury, Cirencester, Fairford, Gloucester, Moreton in Marsh, Newent, Painswick, Stroud, Tetbury, Tewkesbury, Wotton under Edge and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Gloucestershire
    • Equity Release Advisers Hampshire
      Aldershot, Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Fareham, Farnborough, Fleet, Fordingbridge, Gosport, Havant, Hythe, Isle of Wight, Lymington, New Forest, New Milton, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Ringwood, Romsey, Rushmore, Southampton, Southsea, Winchester and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Hampshire
    • Equity Release Specialist Advisers Hertfordshire 
      Watford, Stevenage, St Albans, Broxbourne, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Hertfordshire
    • Equity Release Advice Kent
      Sevenoaks, Dartford, Tonbridge, Medway, Maidstone, Tonbridge Wells, Ashford, Gravesend, Canterbury, Thanet and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Kent
    • Equity Release Advice Leicestershire
      Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Braunstone Town, Castle Donington, Coalville, Earl Shilton, Hinckley, Ibstock, Leicester, Loughborough, Lutterworth, Market Bosworth, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Shepshed, Syston, Wigston Magna and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Leicestershire
    • Equity Release Advice London
      East London, South London, North London, West London, Central London and all towns, boroughs and suburbs of London
    • Equity Release Advice Norfolk
      Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Norfolk
    • Equity Release Advice Northamptonshire
      Brackley, Burton Latimer, Corby, Daventry, Kettering, Northampton, Towcester, Wellingborough and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Northamptonshire
    • Equity Release Advice Oxfordshire
      Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Burford, Carterton, Charlbury, Chipping Norton, Didcot, Dorchester, Faringdon, Henley on Thames, Oxford, Thame, Wallingford, Wantage, Witney, Woodstock and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Oxfordshire
    • Equity Release Advice Powys
      Hay on Wye, Montgomery, Newtown, Welshpool and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Powys
    • Equity Release Advice Shropshire
      Bridgnorth, Ironbridge, Ludlow, Madeley, Market Drayton, Newport, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Telford, Wem, Whitchurch, Wellington, and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Shropshire
    • Equity Release Advice Staffordshire
      Alton, Biddulph, Cannock, Leek, Lichfield, Rugeley, Stafford, Stoke on Trent, Stone, Tamworth, Uttoxer, Newcastle under Lyme and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Staffordshire
    • Equity Release Advice Suffolk
      Ipswich, Waveney and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Suffolk
    • Equity Release Adviser Surrey
      Ashford, Banstead, Camberley, Croydon, Dorking, Egham, Elmbridge, Epsom, Esher, Farnham, Godalming, Guildford, Haslemere, Leatherhead, Redhill, Reigate, Staines, Waverley, Weybridge, Woking and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Surrey
    • Equity Release Advice Warwickshire
      Alcester, Bedworth, Coventry, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Rugby, Shrewley, Stratford-upon-Avon and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Warwickshire
    • Equity Release Advice West Midlands
      Acocks Green, Balsall Common, Balsall Heath, Barston, Birmingham, Brownhills, Castle Bromwich, Coleshill, Coventry, Dudley, Edgbaston, Halesowen, Harborne, Henley In Arden, Kenilworth, Kings Heath, Kingswinford, Knowle, Marston Green, Moseley, Selly Oak, Sheldon, Shelley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton, Coldfield, Walsall, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and all towns, boroughs and parishes of the West Midlands
    • Equity Release Advice West Sussex
      Worthing, Chichester, Horsham, Crawley and all towns, boroughs and parishes of West Sussex
    • Equity Release Advice Wiltshire
      Amesbury, Bradford on Avon, Calne, Chippenham, Devizes, Highworth, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Melksham, Salisbury, Swindon, Trowbridge, Warminster, Westbury, Wootton Bassett and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Wiltshire
    • Equity Release Advice Worcestershire
      Bromsgrove, Tewkesbury, Dudley, Kidderminster, Malvern, Worcester, Evesham, Pershore and all towns, boroughs and parishes of Worcestershire