Lifetime Mortgage & General Equity Release Advice in Dorset
Get in touch today for a free, zero obligation consultation. We can help you locate equity release advisors in your local area.
The quickest way to find out if your property is eligible for equity release in Dorset is to get in touch with us for a free consultation.
We will be able to tell you whether you are able to take out equity based on the type of property you own and the value of said property.
However, more generally, it is important to know that you can release equity from both houses and apartments in Dorset. As long as the value is £70 000 or more, your property could be approved by an equity release lender in Dorset.
We also appoint solicitors who are familiar with the equity release process. You can learn about the importance of using solicitors during the equity release process here.
All solicitors are, of course, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and are members of the Law Society of England and Wales. If you are unhappy about the work you receive during the equity release process, you are entitled to raise a complaint with the Legal Ombudsman.
Some of the reputable lenders the financial advisors will research on your behalf include Saga, Scottish Widows, Legal & General, Aviva, Liverpool Victoria (LV), Canada Life, more2life, Hodge, Just Retirement, Pure Retirement, One Family and LiveMore Mortgages.
All advisors and lenders are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and registered on the Financial Services Register. This means you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you are unhappy with the advice you receive.
All advisors and lenders are members of the Equity Release Council. The benefits of this include all products come with a no negative equity guarantee.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
It is possible to take out equity from a retirement apartment in Dorset, so we encourage you to get in touch if you are in this situation. However, it will not be as easy to release equity from this type of property, so you must prepare to face some challenges.
Retirement apartments must meet the requirements of equity release providers in Dorset.
Often, this means they should not be classed as studios or basement flats, there must be a lift in the block of flats, and the apartment must not be an ex-council property or a B&B/hotel.
However, some equity release lenders in Dorset will be more lenient with their requirements, so it’s important to do your research to find out if there is a lender out there who would be willing to offer you a loan.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Again, this is entirely dependent on the lender’s preferences. Some equity release providers are happy to offer lifetime mortgages or home reversions to people with leasehold properties.
However, others will never approve a loan for someone with a leasehold property.
If you are coming to the end of your lease, it is much less likely that you will be offered a loan as you will soon lose your rights to the property. However, if you have many years left on it, there is more chance you could succeed with equity release in Dorset.
The first requirement is related to age. Equity release consumers must be at least 55 years old for a lifetime mortgage and 65 years old for a home reversion plan.
This is because equity release in Dorset is designed to boost retirement income, and to last throughout the homeowner’s life, so it is not a scheme for young people. The average age of an equity release consumer is 68-70 years old (1).
The second requirement involves the value of your property. You must own a property that is worth at least £70 000 to be eligible for equity release in Dorset (2).
This is because the equity release provider will eventually sell your home and take the sale proceeds, and the proceeds must be high enough to cover the cost of the loan.
The final requirement is that you must own property. It goes without saying that you cannot tap into the funds of a property that you rent, as they are not yours to tap into.
The same applies if you have a leasehold property and your contract is soon coming to an end.
And just because you can take out equity release doesn’t necessarily mean you should. We advise you to first look at the costs involved, and other potential drawbacks. It’s also useful to access the alternatives to equity release.
One obvious drawback is that equity release may stop certain state benefits, and you may be under a legal obligation to inform the Department of Work and Pensions that you have began to benefit from equity release.
If you are taking out equity release to combat the high costs of living in the UK, it might be better to first try to better budget what money you do have available already.
Below, we signpost you to organisations that might be able to help:
Address: 1 Acland Rd, Dorchester DT1 1JW
Telephone: 0800 144 8848
Website: https://centraldorsetca.org.uk/
Address: Hanham Rd, Wimborne BH21 1AS
Telephone: 0800 144 8848
Website: https://www.edpcitizensadvice.org.uk/
Address: 45 South St, Bridport DT6 3NY
Telephone: 0800 144 8848
Website: https://bridportca.org.uk/
Address: 700 Wimborne Rd, Moordown, Bournemouth BH9 2EG
Telephone: 01202 530530
Website: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bournemouthpooleeastdorset/
Address: Units 1 and 2, 5 Crown Sq, Dorchester DT1 3EN
Telephone: 01305 269444
Website: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/northsouthwestdorset/
Address: Unit 7, 56-58 Abbey Meads, High St, Glastonbury BA6 9DY
Telephone: 0800 622 6036
Website: http://mendipcommunitycu.org.uk/
Nationally, you can reach out to organisations such as Money and Pensions Service and StepChange. You will also find useful resources on Dorset Council’s website.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Neither option is perfect for everyone. Some people benefit from lifetime mortgages, others home reversions, and others an alternative to equity release. We can only recommend an option when you get in touch with us and describe your individual circumstances.
Having said that, there are some key factors that determine whether you are more suited to a lifetime mortgage or a home reversion.
If you want to remain the homeowner, you should opt for a lifetime mortgage. If you want to sell a share of your home so that you can remain in it for the rest of your life, a home reversion is better for you.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
There are eight types of lifetime mortgage available to equity release consumers in Dorset.
Some of them are purpose-driven plans, meaning you must spend the loan on something in particular such as a second home, but others are more general. Here are the different types of lifetime mortgage:
To find out more about each of these equity release plans, visit the links above. You can also get in touch with us for a free consultation and we will explain how each of these plans could work for you, as well as informing you if you are ineligible for any of these schemes.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Yes, you can move home with equity release in Dorset if you are with a lender who allows this, and if you have selected a plan that allows for this.
For example, if your equity release plan involves downsizing protection, you are able to move into a lower-value home whenever you want to.
However, keep in mind that this would decrease your loan amount as you would have less to offer to the lender in terms of property value, so they would get less money from the property sale after you pass away or enter permanent care.
If your lender or plan does not allow you to move, you will, unfortunately, have to stick with the scheme. Sometimes, you can pay a fee to exit the scheme, which is known as an early repayment fee. It is usually 25% of the initial loan amount.
The good news is that if you approach equity release safely, you will do plenty of research before selecting your lender and plan.
This means you should never be caught off guard by the lender’s rules when it comes to moving home, so you should never end up in a situation where you are forced to remain an equity release customer without wanting to be.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
No, you cannot rent out your home if you have taken out equity in Dorset. If you know this is something you definitely want to do in the future, you should avoid equity release and perhaps consider remortgaging or downsizing in order to boost your retirement income and still be able to rent out your home.
You could also get a buy to let lifetime mortgage, which would involve spending an equity loan on a property in Dorset, and renting it out to get a steady rental income. This would allow you to remain in your current property while still renting out another property to tenants.
Yes, you can most certainly purchase a second home in Dorset using an equity release loan. To do this, you would have to apply for a second home lifetime mortgage with a Dorset equity release provider.
If your property is not worth much more than £70 000, you may struggle to cover the costs of purchasing a second property as your equity loan will be on the lower side.
This means you may not be eligible for a second plan scheme unless you have another source of income i.e. savings, financial gifts from loved ones, or you are still working.
If you do buy a second home with equity release in Dorset, keep in mind that you will be required to stay in it for a certain period of time.
Usually, you need to be there for at least 50% of the year. We recommend choosing a location that you love as you will spending lots of time there.
You could even choose a different location to Dorset – some of our customers buy homes abroad. However, you would need to be able to travel to home frequently, so make sure you would be prepared to do this.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
Just as there is no superior scheme between lifetime mortgages and home reversions, when it comes to remortgaging vs taking out equity, there is no right answer. It all depends on your personal situation.
One thing to keep in mind is that remortgaging tends to be a longer process than releasing equity in Dorset. The former takes up to 14 weeks, whereas equity release usually only takes no more than 8 weeks.
This will not bother some customers, but it’s important to note if you are busy with work or you need access to money as soon as possible.
Another aspect to consider is the cost of remortgaging compared to releasing equity in Dorset. Both schemes involve various fees, but with equity release, the loan amount never needs to be repaid.
In this sense, equity release is more affordable than remortgaging, as you don’t need to have a large amount of money to be eligible.
Finally, in terms of the debt you are getting yourself into, remortgaging is better for people who are concerned about owing money.
This is because you make monthly repayments when you remortgage. On the other hand, when you take out equity, you do not have to repay it, so it tends to build over time.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
When you reach out to an Equity Release Warehouse adviser, you can prepare to become an expert in equity release Dorset with the wealth of information that will be made available to you.
Firstly, we will put forward the features and risks of equity release, ensuring you are aware of the positive and negative ways that equity release in Dorset could affect you and your family.
We will welcome any questions you have about the scheme, whether they appear on our FAQs page or not.
Secondly, we will discuss the different equity release plans that you can have in Dorset, including home reversion schemes and lifetime mortgages.
Part of this involves discussing the interest rates, the impact on inheritance, the way the money is paid, and the benefits and drawbacks and disadvantages of each plan.
Finally, we will explain how you can get involved with equity release in a safe way. We will recommend selecting professionals who are equipped to deal with equity release, including advisers, solicitors and lenders. We will also describe the equity release application process so that your transition into equity release is as smooth as possible.
If you can’t wait for your appointment, have a look at the information that is already available on our website.
Our help centre contains everything you need to know about equity release, including a large number of FAQs based on the top things our customers want to know about the equity release scheme.
We also encourage you to look at our plans section to learn about each equity release plan in detail. This could help you to rule out some equity release schemes before talking to an adviser, which would speed up the equity release process significantly.
Finally, please request a personalised quote so that you can find out how much money you could release from your Dorset property. Our equity release calculator is another quick way to do this, but it will be less accurate than a personal quote.
On the other hand, if you cannot wait to speak to an adviser, you can get started as soon as you would like by either calling us on 0330 058 1579 or requesting a call from us.
Our line is open from 8am-8pm every day of the week, and there is always an adviser on the other end of the line who would be delighted to give you advice about equity release in across Dorset in Bournemouth, Weymouth, Poole, Swanage, Dorchester, Corfe Castle, Bridport, West Bay, Christchurch, Sherborne, Wimborne Minster, Charmouth, Wareham, Blandford Forum, Abbotsbury, Poole Harbour, West Lulworth, Beaminster, Sturminster Newton, Burton Bradstock, Cerne Abbas, Ferndown, Gillingham, Milton Abbas and Highcliffe.
Please call our 24-Hour Helpline: 0330 058 1579
[1] Equity release is on the rise – but should you risk it? https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/17/equity-release-is-on-the-rise-but-should-you-risk-it
[2] Equity release market is on the rise https://moneyfacts.co.uk/news/retirement/equity-release-market-is-on-the-rise/
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