What Age Can You Get Equity Release?

Age is the first eligibility test for equity release, and the exact threshold depends on the type of plan. For a lifetime mortgage, the product the great majority of people choose, the minimum age is 55. For a home reversion plan, where you sell a share of your home rather than borrow against it, providers usually require you to be older, typically 60 or 65.

The reason lenders set 55 as the floor is that a lifetime mortgage has no fixed end date: it runs until you die or move into long-term care. Below 55 the expected term is simply too long and too uncertain for the sums to work. A handful of products aimed at younger borrowers do exist, but for the mainstream Equity Release Council market, 55 is the number to remember.

Joint plans use the younger age

If you are applying with a partner, lenders base the decision on the age of the younger applicant, and both must meet the minimum. So if you are 62 and your partner is 54, you would need to wait until they turn 55 before a lifetime mortgage is available. Because the younger age is used, joint plans also tend to release a little less than a single older applicant could, since the plan is expected to run for longer. Writing the plan jointly is usually the right call for couples, though, because it protects the survivor’s right to live in the home for the rest of their life.

Why older applicants can release more

There is no upper age limit on a lifetime mortgage, and age works in your favour for how much you can take. Lenders offer a higher loan-to-value the older you are, because the plan is statistically likely to run for a shorter period before it is repaid. A 55-year-old might release 20%–30% of their home’s value, whereas someone in their eighties could release around half. Our answer on how much you can release from your home sets out the ranges in detail.

That longer runway is a double-edged sword. A homeowner who releases at 55 could, in principle, have the plan for 35 or 40 years, and at a compounding rate of around 7% the debt could double three or four times over that span. Someone releasing the same amount at 80 gives interest far less time to work. If you are at the younger end and can wait, or release only a small initial sum through a drawdown plan, you keep much more of your home’s value intact. Our answer on what the catch is with equity release explores this in more depth.

Age also shapes the right product

Age does not just decide whether you qualify, it shapes which product suits you. If you are newly 55 and still working, a lifetime mortgage that lets you make interest payments, or a retirement interest-only mortgage, where you pay the interest monthly and the capital is repaid when you die or move into care, can keep the debt from ballooning. Older applicants who want maximum cash and no monthly commitment more often opt for a standard roll-up plan. There is no single right answer; it depends on your age, income and what you want the money to do, which is exactly the ground a good adviser covers.

The other eligibility tests

Age alone is not enough. Lenders also require your property to be worth at least around £70,000, to be your main residence, and to be of acceptable construction. Most plans have a minimum release of roughly £10,000. If you already have a mortgage, it usually has to be cleared from the money you release. A specialist adviser checks all of this before recommending anything, and Vetted Wealth can match you, free of charge, with an independently vetted, FCA-regulated one. You may also want to read whether equity release is a good idea for your situation. This is information, not personal advice.

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