Government plans will impact equity release mortgages

Published: November 19, 2007

Recent government announcements about inheritance tax thresholds could have an impact on the provision of equity release mortgages.

As part of his comprehensive spending review in October, chancellor Alistair Darling revealed that married couples and those in civil partnerships would be able to combine their individual £300,000 tax limits.

In effect, this has increased the base level of inheritance tax to £600,000 in many cases.

However, an industry expert has said that this could have results on how equity release mortgages are delivered.

"I suspect you'll find some of the pressure is off on equity release, because one of the main reasons you were going to enter into an equity release product and one of the key drivers for downsizing is going to be inheritance tax," explained Lucian Cook, director of residential property at Savills.

"If you've effectively doubled your nil rate, and you can continue in occupation of the premises without a significant inheritance tax bill, then one of the main pillars behind equity release has been removed, if you like."

However, a recent study from Norwich Union found that around a third of pre-retired people believed that equity release mortgages were a sensible option for older people.