A Sneak Peek Into The Halifax Equity Release Retirement Plans
Equity release, such as Halifax Retirement Home Plan, has certainly become popular among senior citizens in UK. Equity release schemes are now a lot easier to understand and more accessible, which has given older people a reason to cheer. Taking out a mortgage has always been complex for retirees, the long process and complicated regulations made it almost impossible for older people to apply for a mortgage without taking proper professional help. Older retirement plans did not always work, so equity release is becoming more preferred by older people who own a property. Mortgage lenders seem to be reluctant to grant mortgages to retirees beyond the age of 75.
Mortgages after the age of 75
Halifax equity release offers an easy and practical equity release service to its customers. It is often near-impossible for a retiree to get a loan sanctioned because of their age and unlikeliness to pay loans back. Halifax has broken this misconception by providing attractive equity release schemes to its customers.
This is a niche market for certain professionals to exhibit their skills and therefore at the Halifax branch network you will find are unable to offer advice. This fortunately is left to certain qualified intermediaries who have the appropriate Halifax equity release examinations and licence to provide advice and guidance on this product. Therefore, safety and quality of advice should prevail.
The retirement home plan for seniors which is provided by Halifax is the first chapter of the story.
About the Halifax retirement home plan
The Halifax retirement home plan is an interest only lifetime mortgage plan in which the outstanding balance remains unchanged until the end of the deal. The borrower has to pay a partial sum of interest to the lender every month.
Previously, seniors with equity release schemes did not make any interest payments traditionally and so the loan amount kept increasing month after month. In short, by the time a borrower dies, he or she has a big debt over their head and even more concerning would be the inheritance left to the beneficiaries.
Halifax retirement plans enable the borrower to pay whatever interest is charged from variable resources. The source of income can be a private or occupational pension, or state grants such as government pension, means tested benefits such as pension credit. They also accept other forms of income such as DLA (disability living allowance), Industrial injuries benefit and carer’s allowance. Finally, rental income is acceptable at the discretion of the underwriters providing a short hold tenancy agreement is in place and the amount used for equity release calculation purposes is usually at 60%.
Halifax is among the best equity release providers and that is the reason why they are trusted and becoming used more than many other equity release service providers.
Other Providers are Available
While it is nice to learn about Halifax and all their financial products for retirees, it is equally important to realise there are more products on the market than just this company’s offerings. Plenty of other companies provide a variety of retirement equity releases which can vary greatly from the products discussed here. They also have similarities such as how the capital sum is repaid at the end of your life and how interest might accrue or be paid in an interest only mortgage plan.
You also have four different products at other companies which may be named different things such as interest select, enhanced or ill health lifetime mortgage. As you study the Halifax products and consider your other options, remember to explore the qualifications specific for the products that interest you most. Qualifications can also differ. Some lifetime mortgages are available from the time you turn 55. Others offer interest only equity releases for retirees but require payment to be made at 75 or a rollover into a lump sum equity release. Given the various differences you can find with products it may also be beneficial to speak with an expert in this industry.
Experts offering Equity Release Advice
Halifax has their own experts who are always available to speak with you about their plans. Make certain that you do contact one of these helpful agents, but after you speak with an independent adviser. Speaking with someone not associated with a specific company can open up more ideas for you. You might learn about a couple of the protection clauses such as inheritance guarantee and no negative equity. Both are designed to protect you against rising interest on your home, so that you owe nothing more in the end and in some cases protect inheritance for your beneficiaries.
Contact us on 0800 321 3156 about the Halifax Retirement Home Plan today and see whether it can help with your retirement plans.