Lease for Life calculator
Retired homeowners withdrew a record £300m from their properties during the second quarter of the year.Equity release allows retired homeowners to withdraw equity from their home without having to move.People can either sell a portion of their home to a home reversion company for a lump sum, or they can take out a lifetime mortgage against its value.The money is then repaid on either their death or when they move house - but interest will mount up. Trade body Safe Home Income Plans (Ship), which represents 90% of the equity release sector, said more than 7,400 new plans were taken out in that period.That was 6% more than during the same period a year earlier. The total value of the new business was £302.3m to the end of June, the highest figure to date, and up from £262.8m during the same period in 2006.