We need £100,000 to move closer to one of our children. Should we use equity release?

theguardian.com:

Q I would be interested in your opinion on a proposal my wife and I are considering. We wish to move house to live closer to one of our children but, unfortunately, they live in a more expensive area than we do. We’d prefer not to downsize but a comparable property would cost up to £100,000 more than our current house, which is worth about £360,000 and is mortgage free.

We are thinking about using equity release to raise the extra £100,000 we need. I’m 76 and my wife is almost seven years younger, so on the assumption women live two years longer than men, we anticipate my wife will outlast me by about nine years. While I’m alive we should be able to pay the interest on the loan but if I die then the interest would have to come out of the equity of the property. I have calculated the interest over nine years to be about £45,000.

Our children are comfortably off and not dependant on inheritance and are happy for us to proceed.AN

A I’m not sure what the relevance is of your and your wife’s life expectancies as there was no mention of it in the very helpful guide to equity release written by Andy Vickery, a qualified equity release and mortgage adviser at Money Release who specialises in over-55s finance, but maybe I’m missing something. But you are right in thinking that your age matters when looking into equity release.

If you are interested in taking out a lifetime mortgage – which is what I assume you are considering – you have to be at least 55, while the minimum age for a home reversion scheme (where you sell part of your home to release equity rather than taking out a loan on it) is 60. Your age also determines the maximum you can borrow with a lifetime mortgage. At 55, the most you can release from your property is 31%