Property rich, but cash poor people in their fifties and sixties are increasingly unlocking lump sums from their homes using equity release mortgages. The prospect of a tax-free windfall with no obligation to pay it back while you’re alive has sparked great interest recently. More than £900 million has been paid out in the first half of this year through equity release schemes — a growth of nearly a third compared with last year. Also known as lifetime mortgages, the loans give older homeowners with most of their cash tied up in a property the chance to get out and…

Source: The Times October 21, 2016 23:00 UTC