What is a Lifetime Mortgage?

The amount you can raise is dependant on your age (or the age of the youngest borrower) and the property value. 

The older you are, usually the more you can release. The maximum loan to value with most lifetime mortgage providers is around 55%. 

Like a standard mortgage lender, each lifetime mortgage lender has their own criteria.

There are lots of different features to the lifetime Mortgage deals available from

the whole of the market and is important to have an adviser who you trust go through each feature with you to find out which is most important and suitable for your circumstances. 

For example If you know that you will likely want to move home and repay the lifetime mortgage within two years, you will need to consider a lender who offer Day one Downsizing Guarantee, this is a very flexible deal and means you can move home penalty free anytime once the mortgage is in place. Most other lenders require the mortgage to have been in place for three or five years before the Downsizing Guarantee comes into place. 

Ensure the adviser you choose is an equity release advisor who works in this advice area every day and is extremely knowledgeable. 

An advisor who occasionally offers equity release advice will likely not know the fast-changing market in depth. There are factors on your credit report that would make most lenders think your mortgage application is higher risk – like defaulting on a loan, late or missed payments on credit cards and applying for credit too often.

In this case, a mortgage is still a possibility, but it is likely you will pay a higher rate of interest or may be restricted on the amount you can borrow.