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Do I need equity release advice?
If you're thinking of releasing some of the equity from your home, the first thing to understand is that it's a requirement of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that you get regulated advice to make sure your interests are protected. Getting expert advice is absolutely crucial to ensure you balance your current needs with your long-term plans before making a choice about whether to go ahead or not.
At Key, our bespoke service offers you two personalised appointments with one of our fully qualified equity release advisers. They’ll take the time to thoroughly understand your circumstances and needs, ensuring you’ve considered other borrowing options before making a recommendation that’s personal to you. And if equity release isn’t right for you, we’ll tell you.
If you do decide equity release is right for you, we’ll do all the legwork. Your qualified adviser will help you find the right product from our range of lifetime mortgages, and you’ll be assigned a dedicated case handler who’ll take care of all the paperwork, so you don’t have to. We’ll support you every step of the way; from application to completion, always with your best interests at heart.
And as our fixed advice fee of £599 is only payable on completion, you can find out if equity release is right for you by speaking with one of our expert advisers without it costing you a penny.
All our equity release advice relates to our range of Key-branded lifetime mortgage products only.
Do equity release advice fees change depending on how much equity is released?
With our Key-branded products, our equity release advice fee is fixed at £599. In contrast, some whole-of-market advisers will typically either charge you a minimum fee, or a percentage of the release amount – whichever is larger.
The more you release above the minimum threshold, the more you pay in advice fees, despite the advice process being the same. So, make sure you check with your adviser what fees they’re going to charge you if you decide to seek advice elsewhere.
For example, using a minimum fee of £1,499 or 1.99% of the release amount, let's take a look at how the amount you borrow affects the fees you’ll have to pay for whole-of-market advice:
What do leading equity release advisers charge for their advice?
If you go ahead with an equity release plan, the advice fee that many equity release advisers charge varies from company to company. In the table below, you can see a comparison of advice fees charged by leading equity release specialists.
Advice fee information correct as of 5 January 2022.
Am I eligible for Key's expert equity release advice?
Tens of thousands of people are already enjoying the benefits of unlocking the tax-free cash
from their home. However, it’s not suitable for everyone, which is why it’s important to get
expert advice before you make a decision. You may be eligible for a lifetime mortgage if:
- You’re a homeowner aged 55 and over
- Your property is worth at least £70,000
To find out more about equity release and to see how much tax-free cash you could unlock from your home, use our equity release calculator.
Does Key charge higher interest rates to cover fixed equity release advice fees?
No, none of our products are priced differently to account for the costs of our fixed equity release advice fees.
In 2019, we created and launched our own range of 70 lifetime mortgage plans using the unique insight we've gained from more than 20 years' experience in equity release.
Our range of plans have been designed to help you unlock some of your home’s value so you can live a better later life. With competitive annual interest rates as low as 2.78%* fixed for life and features such as inheritance protection to help guarantee an inheritance for your loved ones, which is available on some plans, we’re helping you take control of your later life finances.
We constantly monitor our competitors' prices to ensure we offer rates as good as, or in some cases better, on comparable products. And we’re confident that our specialist products and advice – which could help you save more than £1,600 – are competitive in the market.
Taking an average 70-year-old male customer with a house worth £320,418, we have compared the best available rates from across the market to the best of what Key can offer, and calculated the total cost of borrowing across a range of loan amounts. In each example, we have added a whole-of-market equity release advice fee (£1,499/1.99% of the release amount) to the initial loan, as many customers do this.
The results of the comparison set out below shows that opting for one of our competitively priced Key-branded plans (saving on equity release advice costs) over the whole-of-market alternative, could reduce your total cost of borrowing.
* Rates correct as of 1 December 2021. Most Key Equity Release customers have received a fixed annual interest rate of 3.55% or lower. The overall cost for comparison is 3.72% APR. Interest rate received and plan features are subject to eligibility. Ask for a personal illustration.
Applying for equity release will involve fees which will add costs to the application process. Find out what the associated equity release costs are.
Find out what features our plans can offer
Read more about the features of Key's plans
Our commitments to you
We believe that your experience of equity release should be personal and transparent with all the support you need from start to finish. Our commitments to you are:
Why Key Later Life Finance?
Use our free online equity release calculator and find out how much equity you could release from your home and how much you could save on advice costs
Things to consider
- You have to get advice before releasing tax-free cash from your home - please read all our information and make sure it’s right for you
- Our equity release advice relates to Key branded plans only, which are all lifetime mortgages - a loan secured against your home. It will reduce the value of your estate and may affect your entitlement to means-tested benefits.
- All of our plans meet the Equity Release Council standards and come with several protections, including the no negative equity guarantee, which means you’ll never owe more than your home’s value
- Unless you decide to go ahead with a plan, our service is completely free of charge, as our fixed advice fee of £599 is only payable on completion
- There may be associated costs with equity release in the same way there are costs when you take out a regular mortgage, such as solicitor’s fees and a surveyor’s valuation - read more about associated costs
^ Equity Release Council Autumn Market Report 2021 - Average lump sum initial advance in H2 2021. Based on whole of market example advice fee of 1.99%.
Page last updated: Thursday 23 June 2022