Equity Release FAQ’s

Equity release as the name suggests is an arrangement whereby you can release equity (money) tied up in your home. There are 2 main types of equity release plans available: these are the lifetime mortgage or home reversion arrangement. We only offer the home reversion arrangement. You would need to contact your solicitor or a financial advisor for advice on other schemes as we are not qualified to do so. With our plan you can release all or part of the equity tied up in your home. You retain the right to live in your home for the rest of your life/lives rent free under an arrangement approved by your solicitor. We simply purchase your property (or a part of it).

Equity Release Trustees Ltd was set up by members the same family. The managing director has 25 years experience in property and is well regarded in the equity release industry. We pride ourselves in making our arrangement as simple as possible and do not believe in pressurising people to enter into an agreement with us. You will note that you do not receive a glossy brochure from us full of pictures of smiling pensioners enjoying a cup of tea on a cruise ship! You will also note that we do not send a suited gentleman with a lap-top computer to visit you in your home. In fact we will not visit you at any time as we respect your privacy and your right to consider what we offer in your own time. If you decide to proceed we would ask a local valuer to carry out a brief inspection. The valuer will be approved by you. It is our straight forward no-strings-attached approach that has led to our success.

In order to enter into an arrangement with us we insist that you use your own solicitor. This is because your solicitor will be able to give you independent advice. You may also wish to contact an independent financial advisor. Your solicitor would also approve the legal document (known as a lease) which entitles you to remain in occupation of your property rent free for the rest of  your life/lives. You also receive the agreed lump sum from us up front with no restrictions whatsoever. We are regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to enter into equity release home reversion arrangements and are covered by the financial ombudsman scheme

You will find most, if not all, companies who offer Equity Release Home Reversion Schemes insist that you sign a full repairing lease. The lease that you enter into would allow the organisation to inspect your property periodically. They would then have the right to draw up a Schedule of Dilapidations showing works which you must carry out within a reasonable period of time at your own expense. If you do not carry out the works they are usually entitled to carry out the works themselves and claim the cost from you.

You will not be asked to sign a full Repairing Agreement with Equity Release Trustees Ltd. We believe that there must be a certain element of trust in entering into an arrangement and that it would be an invasion of your privacy for us to be able to send surveyors round periodically. We fully appreciate that you would not wish to have costs of work forced upon you. We have never carried out a periodic inspection and under our agreement, we have no right to do so. We are regulated by theFinancial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the financial ombudsman.

You will find most, if not all, companies who offer Equity Release Home Reversion Schemes insist that you sign a full repairing lease. The lease that you enter into would allow the organisation to inspect your property periodically. They would then have the right to draw up a Schedule of Dilapidations showing works which you must carry out within a reasonable period of time at your own expense. If you do not carry out the works they are usually entitled to carry out the works themselves and claim the cost from you.

You will not be asked to sign a full Repairing Agreement with the Equity Release Trustees Ltd. We believe that there must be a certain element of trust in entering into an arrangement and that it would be an invasion of your privacy for us to be able to send surveyors round periodically. We fully appreciate that you would not wish to have costs of work forced upon you. We have never carried out a periodic inspection and under our agreement, we have no right to do so. We are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and covered by their compensation fund.

We are happy to purchase either the whole of your property or a percentage; you can sell us any percentage from 25% upwards. You can even tell us the specific amount that you would like to raise on your home and we will tell you the percentage of your property that we would purchase in order for you to receive this amount. You may decide in the future to raise more money by selling a further share or you may leave your share in the property as part of your estate for the benefit of your beneficiaries. With a part equity release you would receive a tax free lump sum up front from us depending on the percentage of your property that you wish to sell. You would also receive the right to remain in your property for the rest of your life/lives rent free. When the property passes to your estate it will be sold and we will receive the same percentage of the sale proceeds as we purchased originally, with the remainder going to your estate.

No – with our Scheme the money is paid to you up front. It is yours to do with as you wish and there is no interest payable at any time.

No, we are not financial advisers. We offer a straight forward home reversion arrangement. The money that you release is yours to do with as you wish and you will certainly receive no suggestions from us on how you should spend or invest your money.

No – there are no fees payable to us at any time. If you are introduced to us by an intermediary then a fee may be payable.

We pay for our own survey/valuation report and in the event that the transaction proceeds to completion we will also pay your solicitors fees directly via our own solicitors. Therefore, the offer that we make is what you would end up with in your bank account. The only exception would be if for one reason or another you withdraw after we have instructed solicitors. Then all we ask is that you pay any costs incurred by your solicitors and we will pay any costs incurred by our solicitors. We would still pay for the valuation.

Yes under our arrangement you can move to another property in the future so long as the value of the property that you move to is no more than 75% of the value of your own property at the time. You would be responsible for the legal costs with regard to any move. There would be no fees payable to us.

Our minimum age is ideally 70.

Yes we would consider purchasing a flat depending on the area and the length of lease.

We purchase properties in most areas of England and Wales.

No we will pay your buildings’ insurance for the rest of your lives according to the percentage of your property that we purchase. You will continue to pay for contents’ insurance and buildings’ insurance for the part of the property which you retain (if any).

Yes we are fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and covered by the Financial Ombudsman scheme.

Yes, but this would depend on the size of your estate and what you intended to do with the money that you receive. We are not qualified or authorised to give you such specialist advice. Your accountant or solicitor will be able to offer advice if you wish.

The satisfaction that we are providing a straightforward and down-to-earth equity release scheme to people who may otherwise be struggling to make ends meet pensions. In the distant future when you vacate, the percentage of your property that you have sold to our company will then revert back to us. The property would be sold and our return would depend on values at the time and interest rates in the interim. We would hope to make a profit but this is not guaranteed.

. If I/we are interested in proceeding further what is the next stage?

Firstly you should ask for a personalised illustration. This will set out our offer and allow you to see the features and risks. If you would like to accept an offer for all or part of the equity in your home then please contact us to confirm the percentage. You can choose any percentage of 25% upwards. We will then arrange for a local surveyor/valuer to visit your property in order to provide us with a brief report. This inspection should not take long and the costs will be paid by us regardless of whether or not you decide to proceed further. The valuation/survey report will advise us if there is anything major wrong with your property and will also confirm the current value of it. We will tell you what the valuation is and if it is higher or lower than the valuation that we used in calculating your offer by a significant amount, then we will revise our offer accordingly. Assuming that you are then still happy to proceed we will ask our solicitor to contact your solicitor with a view to submitting draft documentation. The process usually takes around 6 weeks from the time our respective solicitors are instructed. You can withdraw at any time before contracts are exchanged

If you would like to accept an offer for all or part of the equity in your home then please contact us to confirm the percentage. You can choose any percentage of 25% upwards. We will then arrange for a local surveyor/valuer to visit your property in order to provide us with a brief report. This inspection should not take long and the costs will be paid by us regardless of whether or not you decide to proceed further. The valuation/survey report will advise us if there is anything major wrong with your property and will also confirm the current value of it. We will tell you what the valuation is and if it is higher or lower than the valuation that we used in calculating your offer by a significant amount, then we will revise our offer accordingly. Assuming that you are then still happy to proceed we will ask our solicitor to contact your solicitor with a view to submitting draft documentation. The process usually takes around 6 weeks from the time our respective solicitors are instructed. You can withdraw at any time before contracts are exchanged.

Although there was some press talk regarding this subject it is our understanding that genuine equity release schemes conducted through a commercial organisation such as ourselves will be exempt from the new rules and you will not have to pay tax. On 6th November 2004 the Financial Times reported as follows: “There is no question of legitimate equity release schemes that are not about avoiding tax being targeted by this legislation” the revenue said. If you do enter into an Equity Release arrangement with us you will receive independent advice from your solicitor. You should of course check with them as regards his own opinion on the subject.

There are situations where certain types of benefits may be affected although this is a complex area which we are not able to offer advice on. If you are concerned you could seek advice from your solicitor or the organisation/department from whom your receive benefit or are likely to in the future.

In the event that you sell your entire property to us then we will hold the Title Deeds to your property. In the event that you retain any part of the property then your solicitor will hold the Deeds. Unlike some other organisations we will only hold the Title Deeds to your property if we have purchased a 100% interest.