A Lifetime Mortgage

Normally available from the age of 55 this is secured against your home and enables you to borrow a proportion of your home’s value. Interest will be charged on the amount.

There are 2 main types of Lifetime mortgage; The first one being an Interest Roll Lifetime Mortgage. Where unlike a traditional mortgage, there are no monthly repayments with nothing to be paid back until you die, sell your home or go into long-term care. Interest is added to the loan and this interest is compounded or ‘rolled up’ over the period of the loan which means your debt would roughly double over a 10-25 year period depending on the rate that can be obtained. The downside to this is that, slowly at first, then gradually speeding up, the equity you hold in your home is eroded. This may limit your options later on and will reduce the value of your estate.

The 2nd type entails you making interest payments on a monthly basis, much like a traditional Interest Only mortgage. This helps to keep the debt level down. Often these are taken out where there is sufficient income through pension provision in place to make these payments. They can often be converted to an Interest Roll Lifetime Mortgage at a later date as suits the client.