What’s a lifetime mortgage?
We offer a type of equity release known as a lifetime mortgage. It’s a long-term loan that’s secured against your property, which lets you release some of the money tied up in your home to spend on what matters to you. You can apply for it if you are aged 55 or over and the loan and interest are normally repaid by selling your home after you (and your partner, for a joint lifetime mortgage) die or need long-term care, subject to our terms and conditions.
How does a lifetime mortgage work?
It’s a long-term loan secured against the value of your home, which you can apply for any time after you turn 55. You'd borrow a cash lump sum. Interest builds up for as long as you have the lifetime mortgage and is charged on the total amount borrowed and the interest already added. This quickly increases the amount you owe. You don't have to make any repayments unless you want to, as the loan and interest will usually be paid back in full by selling your property when all borrowers have passed away or moved into long-term care (subject to our terms and conditions).
You need to know that taking out any type of equity release means you will leave a lower amount behind to loved ones. It may also have a tax impact and affect whether you can still claim certain welfare benefits.
Learn more about our lifetime mortgage with our free guide
We’ve put together a free guide packed with information and answers to the questions people most often ask. You can download an online version right away or ask us to post a copy to your home.
How to use our lifetime mortgage calculator
Our calculator will estimate how much money you could borrow against the value of your home with a lifetime mortgage – all you have to do is pop in a few details including your age, property type and property value (a rough estimate is fine).
How a lifetime mortgage is calculated
There are a few things that affect how much you can borrow.
These include:
- Your age (or the age of the youngest person if you own the property with someone else)
- The type of home you own
- Your home's value
- Your health and lifestyle
- Whether you have a leasehold on the property
- How you'll take your lifetime mortgage (as one cash lump sum, or a lump sum with a cash reserve)
- Choosing our inheritance guarantee to leave a set percentage of your home's value behind
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How we calculated this – and what it means
We’ve used your age, property value and address to estimate how much you could borrow if you take out a liftetime mortgage with us. To check if you’re eligible and to get an accurate loan amount, you’ll need to speak to an equity release adviser. They’ll take more details from you which means you could borrow more or less than the amount provided here.
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Is a lifetime mortgage right for you?
Lifetime mortgages aren’t for everyone, and there are a few things you’ll need to tick off before you consider taking one out.
To apply for a lifetime mortgage, you'll need to:
- Be 55 or older (for joint applications, both applicants need to be over 55)
- Own a home within the UK (excluding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) worth £75,000 or more
- Be able to borrow at least £15,000
- Be living in your home permanently – it shouldn’t be left empty for more than six months at a time
- Be mortgage-free or only have a small mortgage – any remaining mortgage will need to be paid off as a condition of taking out a lifetime mortgage. You can do this from the amount you borrow.
- You’ll leave behind less of an inheritance when you die – so it’s important to let your family know what to expect
- It could affect your tax position and the welfare benefits you’re entitled to
- You'll be building up interest on the amount you borrowed, and any interest that was already added – it's known as compound interest, and it can mount up quickly
- You don't have to make any repayments but you can do if you want to. The maximum amount you can repay in each policy year is 10% of the total of your loan(s) excluding any interest accrued. You can make as many repayments as you like up to the 10% annual limit but each one must be a minimum of £50
- It's designed to last for the rest of your lifetime – or until you need long-term care. You can end the loan sooner, but you might need to pay an early repayment charge
- There are charges involved in equity release – get to know them before you make any decisions
- You will need to speak to a equity release adviser before you make your decision.
You can choose an inheritance guarantee
When you apply for our lifetime mortgage, you can set aside a percentage to leave to your loved ones by adding an inheritance guarantee. This will be for a percentage of the sale price of your home. This will reduce the amount you are able to borrow and your inheritance will still be reduced.
To see how this might reduce how much equity you can release, take off the percentage you'd like to leave as an inheritance from your property value. You can get a more accurate idea of how this might look by chatting with our experts.
Talk to an expert about a lifetime mortgage
If you want to be sure you're eligible for equity release with us, know the exact amount you could borrow or have any questions at all, there are two ways you can get in touch.
Call us when you're ready^
0800 141 3493
Monday to Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Weekends & Bank Holidays: Closed
Ask us to call you
Fill in a few details, and our experts will give you a call back within 3 working days at the time of day you prefer.
^ We will arrange an appointment with the Aviva Equity Release Advice team, who can provide information and advice on Aviva’s lifetime mortgages only. Calls to 0800 or 0808 numbers from UK landlines and mobiles are free. For our joint protection, calls may be recorded or monitored, and saved for a minimum of 5 years. Our opening hours may be different depending on which team you need to speak to.
Get to grips with equity release
Take a closer look at our lifetime mortgage to see if it may be suitable for you.