We cover Hull and the surrounding area. If you own your home in the city and you are over 55, this page is about what your property could do for you.
There is also a separate page covering East Yorkshire more widely, if you are outside the city itself.
If your mortgage is long gone
A great many people in Hull have owned the same house for decades and finished paying for it years ago. That is a stronger position than most people realise.
When there is no mortgage left to clear, the whole of what you release reaches you. Nothing has to be paid off first. If your home is worth £160,000 and you are 70, the indicative maximum of around 44% is roughly £70,000, and that is the figure that is actually available rather than a starting point that a lender then takes a chunk out of.
Where an existing mortgage does still exist, it has to be repaid out of the release, so what reaches you is the remainder. Either way you will be told the real numbers before you commit to anything.
The house is usually worth more than people assume
The most common reason people here rule themselves out is a belief that their home is not valuable enough to bother.
Your property needs to be worth at least £70,000. That is the floor for a lifetime mortgage, and a lot of Hull housing clears it comfortably.
The minimum release is £10,000. You do not need to be after a large sum for this to be a sensible conversation. Plenty of people are looking at a new roof, a boiler, a bathroom that has become difficult to use, or simply clearing a credit card that has been hanging around too long.
What your street was built as still matters
Hull's housing is varied, and the type of construction affects what a lender will do.
Terraces and interwar semis, which make up much of the city, are ordinary residential property and generally straightforward.
Bungalows through Anlaby, Willerby, Kirk Ella and the eastern suburbs are popular with later life lenders, partly because they suit people intending to stay put.
System-built and non-standard construction exists across parts of the city. It is not an automatic no. Non-standard properties are referred to a lender for a decision rather than declined out of hand, and lenders take different views, which is exactly where being whole of market earns its keep.
Ex-local authority housing is common and is not a bar in itself, though individual lenders have their own criteria.
If you are unsure what you have, that is a question rather than an obstacle.
Not everyone should do this
Equity release is not always the right answer, and Craig will tell you when it is not.
Sometimes there is a benefit going unclaimed. Sometimes there is a local authority grant for the repair you were about to borrow for. Sometimes a retirement interest only mortgage costs less over time, if your income supports the monthly payment. Sometimes the right answer is to do nothing at all.
That conversation costs you nothing either way.
What we can look at
- Lifetime mortgages, whole of market
- Retirement interest only (RIO) and term interest only (TIO) mortgages, independent whole of market advice
- Interest only mortgages for ages 50 and over, independent whole of market advice
- Home reversion, referred to sector specialists
The basics
- 55 or over for a lifetime mortgage, 50 or over for a RIO
- Property worth at least £70,000, minimum release £10,000
- No upper age limit
- Joint applications assessed on the younger applicant
- Any existing mortgage repaid out of the release
Roughly up to 28% of your property's value at 55, around 37% at 65, around 44% at 70, and up to 60% from 80 onwards.
Not sure how any of this applies to your own circumstances? Craig is happy to talk it through, free and with no obligation.
Talking to us
Phone, video call or face to face, whichever suits. The first conversation is free, and our advice fee is a maximum of £1,495, payable only if your case completes.
Book a call with Craig or call 0113 403 5584.
