Equity Release Calculator

Yes. A lifetime mortgage is simply the most common type of equity release, so a lifetime mortgage calculator and an equity release calculator are generally covering the same ground, and this tool works for either search. It doesn't cover home reversion plans, the less common alternative, which work differently since they involve selling part of your home rather than borrowing against it.

No. This calculator runs entirely in your browser: you don't need to enter your name, contact details, or any identifying information, and nothing you type into it is saved, sent anywhere, or used to generate leads for equity release providers. It's built to give you a private, no personal data starting estimate before you speak to a regulated adviser, not to collect your details.

It depends on your age, your property's value, and the individual lender's own terms; there's no single official rate table for this, unlike Income Tax or National Insurance bands. As a very broad illustration, homeowners in their late 50s can typically release somewhere around a fifth to a third of their property's value, rising to around half or more from their mid-70s onwards, because lenders factor in life expectancy. Use the estimate tool above for a rough range based on your own age and property value, but treat it as a starting point, not a quote.

Most equity release is a lifetime mortgage, which isn't usually repaid until you die or move into permanent long-term care. Lenders base how much they'll lend on how long they expect interest to roll up before the loan is likely to be repaid, so an older applicant, with a shorter remaining life expectancy on average, can typically borrow a higher percentage of their home's value than a younger one.

With the most common type, a roll-up lifetime mortgage, you don't make any monthly repayments. Instead, interest is added to the loan each year and then charged interest itself the following year, known as compounding. This means the debt can grow quickly: Age UK's own guidance gives the example of a £20,000 loan roughly doubling in around 11 years at a fixed rate of 6.5% a year. Some lenders offer interest-only or partial-payment versions instead, where paying some or all of the interest each month slows this growth.

Not if your plan carries a no negative equity guarantee, a standard included with every lifetime mortgage from an Equity Release Council member. It means that when your home is eventually sold, neither you nor your estate will ever have to repay more than it sells for, even if rolled-up interest has technically grown the debt beyond that figure. Always check this guarantee applies before taking out any plan.

Yes. Unlike a standard loan calculator, equity release is a regulated product, and UK law requires you to take advice from an FCA-authorised equity release adviser before any provider can offer you a plan. This calculator gives you a starting estimate to bring to that conversation; it isn't a substitute for it.

No. The cash you receive from equity release is tax-free, whether taken as a lump sum or in smaller amounts. However, it can affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit and Council Tax Reduction, and it reduces the value of your estate for inheritance purposes, so it's worth checking both before going ahead.

A lifetime mortgage is a loan secured against your home; you keep full ownership, and interest rolls up until the loan is repaid from your estate. A home reversion plan is different: you sell all or part of your home to a reversion company at less than its market value, in exchange for a cash lump sum, and you keep the right to live there rent-free for life. Lifetime mortgages are far more common, and this calculator's roll-up projection only models a lifetime mortgage, not a home reversion plan.

Often, yes. Equity Release Council standards give customers the right to make penalty-free voluntary repayments, subject to the lender's own limits, and paying even some of the interest each month can significantly slow how quickly the balance grows compared with letting it fully roll up. This calculator's roll-up projection assumes no repayments are made, so it shows the fastest-growing, worst-case path; ask a prospective lender about their specific voluntary repayment terms.