How to raise cash on your home

If you are over 55 then you can raise around 30% of the cash locked up as equity on your home by opting for a home reversion scheme or a lifetime mortgage. 30% does not seem to be a high proportion, but that is because of the large amounts of cash involved in generating unpaid interest over long periods of time.

Apart from selling your home and finding somewhere else to rent, which can be very difficult given present market conditions, a scheme introduced some years ago and recently given the green light by the Financial Services Association (FSA) is sell rent back. This allows you to sell your house at a discount (you can expect to receive around 75% of the equity as cash) whilst continuing to occupy it as a tenant and paying a reasonable rent, ideal if you are looking for a fast property sale.

One beauty of this is that you remain in your home and the process is completely invisible to your friends and your neighbours. Nobody need know how you have suddenly got enough money to buy that new car parked in the drive when previously it had looked as if you were having difficulty in keeping up your mortgage payments.

It might be considered that the downside is that you have stepped off the property ladder, but property ownership isn't always all it is cracked up to be. Falling property prices have left many people stranded and the upkeep on a home can be very costly. You always have the option on getting back on the bandwagon should you chose and if your circumstances improve. In the meantime you have repaid all your debts and you have cash in the bank.

Naturally sell rent back is not for everyone, but if you are willing to slightly restructure the way in which you live in your home in exchange for releasing that equity, then certainly this is an option you should investigate.

Apart from selling your home and finding somewhere else to rent, which can be very difficult given present market conditions, a scheme introduced some years ago and recently given the green light by the Financial Services Association (FSA) is sell rent back. This allows you to sell your house at a discount (you can expect to receive around 75% of the equity as cash) whilst continuing to occupy it as a tenant and paying a reasonable rent, ideal if you are looking for a fast property sale .