The short answer
- How much you can release depends mainly on your age and property value, from around 20% at 55 to 50%+ at 80.
- For couples, the younger partner’s age usually sets the amount; most lenders want a property worth at least ~£70,000.
- Health conditions can unlock an enhanced plan offering a larger release or a lower rate.
- The amount you can release is rarely the amount you should, releasing only what you need keeps costs and estate impact down.
Roughly how much could be released
Lifetime mortgage lending is driven mainly by age and property value: the older the youngest borrower, the higher the proportion available. This uses the common industry rule of thumb and will differ from any real offer.
| Age of youngest borrower | Typical maximum release | On a £400,000 home |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | Around 20–25% | £80,000 – £100,000 |
| 60 | Around 25–30% | £100,000 – £120,000 |
| 65 | Around 30–35% | £120,000 – £140,000 |
| 70 | Around 35–40% | £140,000 – £160,000 |
| 75 | Around 40–45% | £160,000 – £180,000 |
| 80+ | Around 45–55% | £180,000 – £220,000+ |
An illustration only. It is not advice, and your own position may differ.
It is the first question almost everyone asks about equity release: how much can I actually get? The honest answer is that it varies widely from person to person, because lenders base the sum on how long they expect to wait before the loan is repaid. The older you are, and in some cases the poorer your health, the more they will lend as a percentage of your home.
This guide explains exactly what drives the figure, shows the typical percentages by age, walks through a worked example, and just as importantly, makes the case for not simply taking the maximum on offer. Releasing property wealth is a long-term decision, and how much you release shapes everything that follows.
What determines the amount
Four main factors decide how much you can release through a lifetime mortgage. Age is the biggest: lenders offer a higher percentage the older you are, because the expected term is shorter. For a couple, it is normally the age of the younger person that counts. Property value sets the pot the percentage applies to, and most lenders have a minimum property value of around £70,000. Property type and condition matter too, non-standard construction, flats, or homes with certain features can reduce the amount or rule out some lenders. And health and lifestyle can increase it through enhanced underwriting.
The logic behind all this is straightforward once you see it from the lender’s side. They will not be repaid until you die or move into long-term care, and in the meantime the interest is rolling up on a debt they cannot touch. The more years they expect to wait, the more that rolled-up interest could eat into the eventual sale proceeds, so the younger you are, the more cautious they must be about how much they hand over at the start. Age is really a proxy for time, and time is the lender’s main risk. Everything else, property value, construction type, your health, adjusts that basic calculation up or down.
Property type deserves a little more attention, because it catches people out. Standard brick-and-tile houses are straightforward, but ex-local-authority homes, flats above shops, timber-framed or concrete construction, properties with flying freeholds, or homes with agricultural ties can all reduce the amount on offer or narrow the pool of lenders willing to help. A leasehold flat usually needs a good number of years left on the lease. None of this necessarily rules you out, but it does mean the headline percentages are a starting point rather than a promise.
How much by age
The percentage of your home you can release, the loan-to-value, climbs steadily with age. The figures below are typical of the 2026 market for a standard lifetime mortgage; enhanced plans can offer more. They are illustrative, and individual lenders vary.
Typical maximum release as a percentage of property value, by age (standard plans, 2026). Illustrative only.
| Age of youngest borrower | Typical maximum release | On a £400,000 home |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | Around 20–25% | £80,000 – £100,000 |
| 60 | Around 25–30% | £100,000 – £120,000 |
| 65 | Around 30–35% | £120,000 – £140,000 |
| 70 | Around 35–40% | £140,000 – £160,000 |
| 75 | Around 40–45% | £160,000 – £180,000 |
| 80+ | Around 45–55% | £180,000 – £220,000+ |
The pattern is clear: waiting a few years before you release can meaningfully increase the sum available, though against that you must weigh why you need the money now and how the debt would roll up over a longer period. This is exactly the kind of timing question worth discussing alongside your wider retirement income plan.
For couples, the age rule can be a genuine constraint. Because lenders base the offer on the younger partner, a fit 62-year-old married to a 70-year-old will typically find the amount capped by that younger age, not the average. It is not a quirk to resent so much as a factor to plan around, sometimes it points towards waiting, sometimes towards a smaller release now with a reserve for later. What it should never do is tempt you to leave a younger partner off the plan to unlock a bigger sum, because that would strip them of their security of tenure in the home. An adviser will always plan for both of you together.
Health and enhanced plans
Counter-intuitively, poorer health can be an advantage when releasing equity. Enhanced (or medically underwritten) lifetime mortgages factor in health conditions and lifestyle, smoking, a raised BMI, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart or circulatory conditions, and more, on the basis that they may shorten the loan’s expected term. The result can be a higher maximum release, a lower interest rate, or both. It is always worth completing a full health and lifestyle questionnaire, because even fairly common conditions can unlock a better deal.
The mechanism is the same one that drives the age-based figures: anything that shortens the lender’s expected wait lets them lend more, or charge less, because there is less time for the debt to roll up. That is why a smoker of many years or someone managing a long-term condition may be offered noticeably better terms than a picture of perfect health of the same age. It can feel uncomfortable to think about, but disclosing your medical history fully and honestly is squarely in your interest here, under-reporting it simply leaves money on the table.
A worked example
Take Margaret, aged 68, whose home is worth £350,000 and who has no mortgage. A standard lifetime mortgage might offer her around a third of the value, roughly £115,000. She does not need all of it: she wants £40,000 to renovate the house and a buffer for the future. Rather than take the full £115,000 as a lump sum and watch interest build on all of it, she takes £40,000 now and keeps the balance as a drawdown reserve. Interest only accrues on the £40,000 she has actually used, and she can draw more later if she needs it. This simple choice could save her many thousands of pounds over a long retirement.
Contrast that with her taking the full £115,000 up front and leaving £75,000 sitting in a savings account. That untouched cash would earn a modest rate of interest while the whole £115,000 quietly compounded at her mortgage rate, a losing trade every single year. It might also lift her savings above the threshold for means-tested support she would otherwise receive. Same maximum entitlement, two very different outcomes: the difference is entirely in how, and how much, she chooses to draw.
The drawdown alternative
Margaret’s approach points to a wider truth: the amount you can release and the amount you should release are rarely the same. A drawdown lifetime mortgage lets you agree a total facility but take only what you need, when you need it, with interest charged solely on the money withdrawn. For most people who do not have a single large one-off need, this is the more cost-efficient structure, and it keeps more of your home’s value intact for longer.
There is one nuance worth knowing: the reserve in a drawdown plan is a facility, not a guarantee. Lenders can, in principle, review or withdraw the undrawn portion, and future drawdowns may be at the interest rate applying when you take them rather than the rate on your original release. In practice reserves are rarely pulled, but it is a reason not to rely on being able to draw a specific sum at a specific future date if that money is genuinely essential. If a fixed future need is certain, an adviser may structure things differently.
Should you take the maximum?
Being offered a large sum is not a reason to take it. The more you release, the more interest compounds, the more your estate shrinks, and the greater the chance of tipping over the thresholds for means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit. It can also affect how you fund care in later life. A disciplined approach, release what you need, keep the rest in reserve, usually serves you far better than maximising the headline figure.
There is also a subtler cost to over-releasing. Cash you draw but do not immediately spend usually sits in a savings account earning less than the interest your lifetime mortgage is charging, so you are, in effect, paying to hold money you are not using. That negative spread is quietly expensive over a long retirement. It is one of the clearest arguments for taking a modest initial sum and leaving the rest as a reserve, and it is exactly the sort of trade-off a good adviser will put in front of you in pounds and pence rather than leaving you to guess.
Taking the maximum lump sum
- Interest compounds on the full amount from day one
- Larger reduction in your inheritance
- Spare cash may reduce means-tested benefits
- Money sitting in the bank often earns less than the loan costs
Releasing only what you need
- Interest builds only on what you have used
- Preserves more of your estate for longer
- Less risk to benefit entitlement
- A drawdown reserve is there if you need it later
Getting precise figures
The percentages here are a guide, not a quote. Only a regulated adviser, running your details through lenders’ own calculators, can tell you the exact maximum available and, more usefully, help you decide how much you actually ought to take. They will also weigh alternatives such as downsizing or a retirement interest-only mortgage. If you are choosing who to work with, our guide on how to choose a financial adviser is a good starting point.
Vetted Wealth matches you, free of charge, with an independently vetted, FCA-regulated equity release specialist, whether you are in Cornwall, Devon or beyond. This is information, not personal advice; releasing equity reduces the value of your estate and may affect means-tested benefits, and property values can fall as well as rise.
Common questions
How much equity can I release from my home?
As a rough guide, the amount ranges from around 20% of your property’s value in your mid-fifties to roughly 50% or more in your eighties. The exact figure depends on your age (or the younger partner’s age for a couple), the value and type of property, and sometimes your health. On a £400,000 home, that might mean anywhere from about £80,000 to £200,000-plus. An adviser will produce precise figures from lenders’ own calculators. This is information, not personal advice.
Does my health affect how much I can release?
It can, and often significantly. Enhanced or medically underwritten lifetime mortgages take account of health conditions and lifestyle factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions or being a smoker, because they may shorten the expected term of the loan. That can let you release a larger sum, secure a lower interest rate, or both. It is always worth disclosing your full medical history to your adviser for this reason.
Should I release the maximum amount available?
Usually not. Just because a lender will offer a large sum does not mean taking it is wise. Releasing more than you need means more interest rolling up, a bigger dent in your inheritance, and a greater risk of affecting means-tested benefits. Many advisers recommend a drawdown plan, taking a smaller initial amount with a reserve to dip into later, so you only pay interest on what you actually use. Regulated advice is required before you proceed.
In summary
- How much you can release depends mainly on your age and property value, from around 20% at 55 to 50%+ at 80.
- For couples, the younger partner’s age usually sets the amount; most lenders want a property worth at least ~£70,000.
- Health conditions can unlock an enhanced plan offering a larger release or a lower rate.
- The amount you can release is rarely the amount you should, releasing only what you need keeps costs and estate impact down.
- A drawdown reserve lets you take money in stages, with interest charged only on what you withdraw.
Sources and further reading
- Equity release MoneyHelper
- Standards and safeguards Equity Release Council
- Check the Financial Services Register Financial Conduct Authority
Common questions on equity release
Ready to speak to a vetted equity release specialist?
This guide is free information, not personal advice. When you’re ready, we’ll match you with an established, independently vetted, FCA-regulated specialist in equity release, free, and with no obligation.
