Equity release or downsize?

Last updated 11^th June 2019

If you have equity tied up in your home, you could unlock some of it through equity release or by downsizing. Here we briefly compare the two options.

To release equity or downsize. That is the question

In this article, we briefly compare two popular ways of using the value of your home to access money – downsizing and equity release.

For many positive reasons, most notably advances in medical science, both men and women are living much longer these days. While that’s great news, it also presents its own challenges such as gaps in the job market, pressure on health and social services as well as funding for public services and social housing.

So, if retirement is on the cards, it could be worth asking yourself a couple of questions: firstly, when you retire, will you have enough money to live happily? And secondly, will your income in retirement be enough to live on comfortably for the rest of your life? If not, the home you live in may be able to help.

Video transcript

Downsizing

Many people who want to release money from their homes look at downsizing. But they don’t always realise how much costs. So I’m going to take you through some of these costs which are taken from independent sources.

For instance say your home is worth £300,000. There we are I’ll just write that up there. And you want to downsize to a property which is worth £200,000.

The estate agent might charge you 1.3% of the value of your home in order for them to sell it. And with these numbers that would be the equivalent of £3,900.

Then there are other costs which would include moving fees and they would be around £1,100.

Then we have legal fees, again around £1,100. And finally, when you buy this new property here the stamp duty on a house worth £200,000 is £1,500.

OK, so now we need to add all these costs up and that total is £7,600. And that would be the cost of downsizing in this example. Or let’s say you’ve had your house for years and it’s now worth £500,000. Now you’re considering a smaller property which is worth £350,000.

This time the estate agent fees are around £6,500. The moving costs could be £1,350 and the legal fees £1,500.

The stamp duty of rate now jumps up because of the value of this new property you’re buying And that would be £7,500.

So, do a simple addition this time and suddenly the costs of downsizing are as much as £16,850. That’s a lot of money to move out of the house you love and to leave your memories behind.

And perhaps that’s why more and more people are choosing equity release to use some of the value that’s tied up in their home? They don’t have to move and they can enjoy the lifestyle they’ve always wanted.

Just keep in mind the amount of equity you release plus the interest accrued over the years will be repaid from the sale of your house when you pass away or move into care.

Free up the value in your home

If you've owned a property for many years and paid off much, if not all, of your mortgage already, you could use some of the equity locked up in your property to boost your finances.

There are two main ways to convert some of the value of your home into cash:

There are two main types of equity release. A lifetime mortgage that is secured against your home and a home reversion plan that involves you selling part or all of your home.

As you would expect, there are pros and cons of releasing equity by either method and both require some level of compromise. Here are some of the main things to consider when weighing up your options.

Why downsize?

Selling up and moving to a cheaper property is quite straightforward from a financial point of view. You sell your house at today’s market value and buy a cheaper one. Once all the costs of moving are settled, you pocket the money left over to help fund your lifestyle and needs.

Your new property will be 100% owned by you and when you're gone, it can be left to your loved ones as an inheritance.

A smaller or newer property could be more economical to run, with lower energy bills and lower maintenance costs. And if you're finding it more difficult to get around or want to be prepared for whatever the future may throw at you, moving to a more practical property, like a bungalow or flat, could make sense.

You may want to move to be nearer family or find it refreshing to start a new phase of life in a different area or in a totally different style of property.

The downsides of downsizing

Where some see starting over as a fresh opportunity, for others it could be too much of a wrench. If that's how you feel, you're not alone. In one recent study it was found that of the 11.4 million over-55s in the UK, just 3.3 million were considering downsizing in the future.

Depending on the amount of cash you need, you might have to move to a cheaper area as well as into a smaller property, which may be too much change all at once.

Moving can be expensive. As well as the purchase price of your new home, estate agent fees, legal fees, removals and possibly stamp duty, will need to be factored in to the numbers. You may also have to spend money on improving your new home to make it how you would like it. A recent report found that that new homeowners spend an average of £10,743 on additional, essential costs such as buying furniture and upgrading their homes within the first five years of buying.

If you've lived in your home for many years, the emotional upheaval of selling up may be hard to contemplate, especially if it has been the family home. Add to that, the hassle and stress of a move and it may feel like too much of an ordeal.

Moving to a smaller property could mean parting with some of your treasured possessions as you won’t have room for them anymore. And when family come to visit, will you have enough space for them to stay?

Finally, moving to a different area could mean leaving behind the support of family and friends currently on your doorstep, which can become even more important as you get older.

Why equity release?

If you’d much rather stay in your home then equity release could be a good option. This type of plan allows homeowners from the age of 55 to access some of the value tied up in their home without having to move or make monthly repayments.

The cash you receive is tax free and how you spend the money released is entirely up to you. You could clear debts, pay for one-off big expenses like funding home improvements or use it as a regular income boost to help you live a little more comfortably every day. Or, you could use some of it as a living inheritance and help your family out financially right when they need it, rather than at an unknown point in the future when the need may have long passed.

You don’t have to repay the money (or the interest on a lifetime mortgage) until you die or move permanently into long-term residential care, so once you have paid the set up and advice fees, an equity release plan won’t push up your monthly outgoings.

Some lifetime mortgages offer flexible options to suit your circumstances, such as a drawdown facility. This lets you take money out of your home only when you need it, rather than having to take a lump sum all at once.

You also have the reassurance of the Equity Release Council’s ‘no negative equity guarantee’. This makes it impossible for you, or your family, to be left owing any money to the lifetime mortgage lender once your home is sold, even if it sells for less than the total amount needing to be repaid.

The downsides of equity release

An equity release scheme is usually repaid from the proceeds of the sale of your home, so you can’t pass on the property itself as an inheritance. And even if you only release a small amount of the equity in your home, this will still reduce how much your estate is worth.

You can’t get hold of 100% of the equity in your home. How much you can get will depend on the value of your property, your age and your state of health among other things.

With a home reversion plan, you sell all or some of your home to the plan provider at a discounted price and neither you, nor your family, will benefit from any future rises in house prices on the portion you sold.

Alternatively, with a lifetime mortgage, interest can mount up quickly, so the longer you have the loan, the more will need to be repaid when the property is finally sold.

As with any financial product, there are costs involved in arranging an equity release plan, such as set up fees, legal costs and fees for the required financial advice. These costs will ultimately depend on the amount released and the type of plan you choose.

Always get an expert’s view

Downsizing or using equity release to access the money tied up in your home is a big decision needing careful consideration. It’s a decision that’s likely to impact your family too, so it’s important to include them in your plans.

There may be other ways you could access similar amounts of money. As with any major financial decision, before doing anything you must speak to a qualified specialist who will take you through all the options available to you in detail.

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Video sources

Stamp duty calculator – Money Advice Service
Legal fees – Money Advice Service
Moving costs – Which
Estate agent fees – Which

Posted on 19 December 2017

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