What are safe income plans and equity release plans?

here are a number of schemes which enable you to tap into the value of your home without having to sell it and move out.

Over the past forty years, thousands of retired homeowners have found that these plans provide a safe and successful method of releasing regular income or a cash lump sum, to improve the quality of their life in retirement.

The alternative may not be very attractive. Too many elderly homeowners find themselves in the unenviable position of having to watch every penny they spend from day to day, while most of their money remains locked up in their single biggest asset - their home.

Home income plans and equity release plans can resolve the problem safely.

But there are other schemes on the market which make the same promises - and bitter experience has shown that they are neither safe nor successful. To confuse matters, some of these schemes have sometimes been described as home income plans or equity release plans, too.

The purpose of this website is not to recommend any particular plans to you. Its aim is solely to help you to distinguish between the various plans available and to enable you to make an informed and sensible choice.