UNLOCKING £60,000 from our home...
...brought our whole family together
INCREASING house prices in Ramsgate in Kent left Mark and Julie Plumber worrying that their daughter and grandchildren would have to move far away to afford a home of their own.
But a few years ago an equity release plan recommended by Key allowed the couple to give their daughter the money she needed to buy a house just around the corner.
Today the family has never been closer. Mark and Julie help with the childcare, their daughter has put down roots and the whole family say none of it would have been possible without equity release through Key.
‘We had heard of equity release so we had a vague idea of how it worked,’ says Mark, 69. ‘Then we saw a television
advert for Key in the same week a friend started talking about the plan he had taken out. That happy coincidence persuaded us to get information ourselves.’ Julie, 66, says the timing was perfect in other ways as well.
‘Somebody was renovating a house right by us and we knew it would be just right for our daughter and grandchildren. We asked if it would be put up for sale when it was finished but the asking price was about £50,000 more than our daughter could afford.’
LUXURIES
A lifetime mortgage plan recommended by Key helped Mark and Julie raise that vital £50,000. They actually released £60,000 from the £220,000 value of their family home, using about £10,000 of the extra for DIY projects including a new bathroom and a few other luxuries. The couple don’t have to make any monthly payments as the loan and roll-up interest is repaid when the loan comes to an end. They still own their home and can stay there for life. The boxes on this page and overleaf explain more about how equity release actually works, but in simple terms it lets you release or unlock some of the value tied up in the bricks and mortar of your home – and you can spend the tax-free money you raise on pretty much anyone or anything you choose.
Better still, brokers such as Key do everything they can to make the application process for equity release as simple as possible – as the Plumbers found when they took out their plan.
WONDERFUL
‘The whole experience of speaking to Key and taking out the plan was wonderful,’ says Julie. ‘After our initial enquiry a representative came to talk to us at home, which was far nicer than us going to some big office somewhere. They were really friendly and explained it in plain English, not financial jargon. All the information was clear and concise and every step of the way they explained what would happen and how it would happen.’
A few years down the line the family are enjoying life – and it seems to show. ‘Our neighbours are fascinated and ask us how we’ve been able to do what we’ve done,’ says Julie. ‘We recommended Key to one of them just a few months ago.’