Selling a House With Equity Release: UK Guide (2026)

By Lisa Hayes · 3 November 2026

Yes, you can sell a home that has an equity release (lifetime) mortgage on it. The loan, plus all the rolled-up interest, is repaid from the sale proceeds on completion, and whatever is left is yours. The catches are an early repayment charge (ERC) that can be painful, your lender needing to sign off, and a redemption figure that is almost always bigger than you remember.

I get a particular kind of email about this. Someone took out equity release years ago, often a sensible decision at the time, and now life has moved. Mum needs to be nearer the family. Dad has died and the house is too big. The roof is going and nobody has the energy. They ring the lender, hear a number, and go quiet. Most advice online is written for people thinking about taking equity release. Very little is written for the person who already has it and wants out. That is this guide.

• £597mlent in Q2 2026, per the Equity Release Council
• 13,489plans (new and returning customers) in Q2 2026
• 99%+of the market is lifetime mortgages
• £113,779average new lump-sum loan, Q2 2026

Those figures come from the Council's own Q2 2026 market report. They matter because they tell you how common your situation is. Thousands of plans are written every quarter, which means thousands of homes will eventually come to market with a charge sitting on the title.

Can I sell my house if I have equity release?

Yes. A lifetime mortgage is a loan secured on your home, in the same way an ordinary mortgage is. It gets repaid when the property is sold. Legal & General's guide to selling with equity release puts it plainly: selling is possible, but your provider has to agree to the move. In practice, "agree" means they have to send a redemption figure to your solicitor and release their charge on completion. They are not going to refuse a sale that clears their loan. What they will do is take their money first.

The loan does not have to be repaid while you are living there. You only repay when the last remaining borrower dies or moves into long-term care, or when you leave the home and do not port the plan. So you are not forced to do anything today. But if you want to move, the sale is the repayment event.

What does selling actually involve, step by step?

It is the same conveyancing process as any sale, with one extra party. Here is the order I would do things in.

1. Ring your plan provider and ask for a redemption statement. This is the formal figure to repay the loan on a stated date. Ask how long the figure is valid for, and what the daily interest is after that. You want to know this before you choose an asking price.
2. Dig out your plan documents. Look for the early repayment charge schedule, any penalty-free overpayment allowance, and anything mentioning downsizing or moving. If you cannot find them, ask the provider for copies.
3. Speak to the adviser who arranged it. Regulated advice is required to take out a lifetime mortgage. It is wise to talk through the exit the same way.
4. Get a proper valuation. Use a free house valuation and a couple of agent opinions. The gap between your asking price and the redemption figure is your real equity.
5. Instruct a conveyancer and tell them about the charge on day one. They will request the redemption statement and handle the lender's release. Our guides section covers the standard process if you have not sold before.
6. Market the property, or compare a quick sale. More on that below.
7. On completion, your solicitor repays the lender from the proceeds, the charge is removed from the register, and the balance comes to you.

How much will I owe? The compound interest problem

This is the part nobody likes, so I will not dress it up. A lifetime mortgage normally has no monthly repayments. The interest is added to the loan, and next year you pay interest on the interest. Which? notes that the average rate was 6.63% in September 2023 according to Moneyfacts, and that because you do not pay monthly, interest builds up from the beginning. Your own rate may be lower or higher depending on when you took the plan out.

To make the maths concrete, here is simple arithmetic, not a forecast and not your plan. It assumes a single lump sum compounding annually at 6.63% with no repayments.

The £113,779 line uses the average new lump-sum loan the Council reported for Q2 2026. The point to take away is that the debt roughly doubles in about eleven years at that rate. If your parent took the plan out in the 2010s, the number on the statement will probably be well above what they borrowed. That is how the product works. It is not a mistake, and it is not the lender being sneaky, but it is why the redemption statement should be your first call.

What is the no negative equity guarantee, and does it help me?

Plans that meet Equity Release Council standards come with what the Council calls six product safeguards. Per its Q2 2026 report, those are a no negative equity guarantee, fixed or capped rates for life, secure tenure for life, the right to port, the right to make overpayments, and no early repayment charge if you move into care with a medical certificate.

The no negative equity guarantee is the one people misunderstand. It means that if the home sells for less than the loan, you or your estate never owe more than the sale proceeds. The lender takes the hit. That protects you in a falling market or if the property has problems that drag the price down. It does not mean the loan stops growing, and it does not mean you keep a share of the sale if the debt eats everything.

If you are selling a home with defects, this matters. A house with issues that make it hard to sell might fetch a discounted price. With a guarantee in place, a lower price cannot push you into personal debt to the lender. Check your own documents to confirm your plan has it. Council-standard plans do, and older non-standard ones may not.

What is an early repayment charge, and can I avoid it?

An ERC is a fee for repaying the loan before the lender expected. Because there are no monthly payments, the lender is relying on the loan sitting for the rest of your life, and an early exit costs them. Which? warns that repaying early "will often trigger a hefty early repayment charge", and that penalty-free partial repayments on Council-standard plans are often limited to 10% of the loan per year.

How the charge is calculated depends on your plan. I have seen both a percentage of the balance that steps down over time and formulas tied to market rates. I am not going to quote a figure at you, because it is in your paperwork and it differs by lender and by date. Here is what I would check, in order.

• Is there an ERC at all today? Some charges fall away after a set number of years. If you are close to that date, a short delay in selling could save real money.
• Does your plan have downsizing protection? Some plans waive the ERC if you sell to move to a smaller, cheaper home after a set period. Not every plan has this, so ask the provider to confirm in writing.
• Is the sale linked to a move into care? The Council lists no ERC if you move into care with a medical certificate. Get that certificate organised early.
• Can you port instead of repay? If so, no ERC applies in the usual way, because the loan simply moves.

Do not assume anything here. Ask the provider two direct questions: what is my ERC if I repay on this date, and what would it be on the same date next year? The difference is worth knowing.

Should I port my equity release plan to a new home?

Porting means transferring the existing lifetime mortgage to the property you are buying instead of repaying it. Legal & General notes your rate will not change because it is the same loan. If the new home is cheaper, you may have to pay some of the loan back. If it is more expensive, you might be able to release extra money. Valuation and arrangement fees are probable either way.

NerdWallet adds a crucial caveat. As long as the plan came from a Council member, your lender should allow a move to a "suitable alternative property", but they assess the new place the way they assessed your current one. Property types likely to be unacceptable include static and mobile homes, houseboats, guest houses and B&Bs, farms, studios and basement flats, and specialist retirement properties.

That last point catches people out. Someone sells the family home, falls for a small retirement flat, and discovers the lender will not accept it as security. If you want to port, get the lender's view before you offer on anything. You cannot buy somewhere new until you have agreed next steps with the provider, and it has to meet their lending criteria.

What if the borrower has died or moved into care?

This is where most of the stressful enquiries come from. When the last borrower dies or goes into long-term care, the loan becomes repayable. The sale is usually handled by an executor or a power of attorney, and lenders typically allow a limited window to sell. The length varies by provider, so ask for it in writing as soon as you can. During that window interest keeps running, so there is a cost to delay.

If you are the executor, read our guides on selling inherited property and on the practical side of getting a sale moving. If a house must be sold quickly to clear a loan that is growing daily, the speed of the buyer matters more than squeezing the last few thousand from the price.

A power of attorney can sell on behalf of someone who has lost capacity, subject to the usual rules. If the borrower is moving into care, the Council's safeguard that waives the ERC on a care move, with a medical certificate, can be worth thousands. Do not let a solicitor or agent skip past it.

Will I have enough left after repaying the loan?

Work it out before you list. The sum is simple:

1. Realistic sale price (not the hopeful one)
2. Minus the redemption figure, including any ERC
3. Minus estate agent fees, conveyancing and removals
4. Equals what you actually walk away with

Our how much is my house worth page helps with the first line. Be honest about the others. A sale at 5% under asking can look like a small dent in the price and a big dent in your equity if the loan is large.

If the numbers are tight, this is also the moment to think about whether you actually need to sell at all. Some people repay part of the loan from other savings, or use the allowed penalty-free overpayments to slow the growth. That is a decision to take with an adviser, not with me, but it is worth asking.

Is a quick or cash sale a good idea with equity release?

Sometimes. Here is my honest view. A cash buyer will normally offer less than the open market, often meaningfully less. That discount is the price of speed and certainty. If you have a growing loan, a care-fee bill, or an executor window ticking, certainty can be worth more than the discount. If you have time and a healthy gap between value and debt, test the open market first.

What I would never do is accept the first cash offer unseen. Compare several. Our cash house buyers page and the best house buying companies comparison explain how to weigh them, and why they buy below market value is worth a read before you phone anybody. If you want the fastest route overall, start with how to sell a house fast.

Tell any buyer about the equity release charge at the outset. Their solicitor will find it on the title anyway. What matters is that the redemption figure is ready, because an unprepared lender is the most common cause of delay on these sales.

Does equity release affect benefits or care funding?

It can. A lump sum from a lifetime mortgage counts as money you hold, and sums above certain thresholds can affect means-tested benefits. Once the loan is repaid on sale, the leftover proceeds are capital and are treated like any other savings. I am not going to quote thresholds, because they change. Check the current rules on gov.uk or ask a benefits adviser before you move large amounts around.

Care is a separate question. If you are selling to fund care, the loan clears first and the remainder is what is left to pay for it. Our guide on care funding and selling your home sits in the main guides area.

What mistakes do people make when selling with equity release?

• Pricing the house before getting the redemption figure. The most common mistake by far.
• Telling the provider too late. A solicitor chasing a statement in week six of a sale is a solicitor you pay for waiting.
• Assuming the ERC is fixed. It may step down on a date. Know the date.
• Falling for a retirement flat the lender will not accept. If you plan to port, check first.
• Not involving the family early. Beneficiaries are often surprised by the figures. A short, honest conversation avoids a long, ugly one.
• Skipping regulated advice. Which? notes that switching a lifetime mortgage requires regulated advice. Even for a straightforward repayment, a second opinion is cheap relative to the sums involved.

Equity release versus downsizing: which route suits you?

A worked example (illustrative figures only)

Take a made-up couple, and I stress it is made up. They borrowed £100,000 fifteen years ago at 6.63%, compounding, no repayments. By the arithmetic in the table above, the loan is now around £261,900. They sell for £400,000. Agent fees at 1.2% plus VAT, conveyancing and removals might come to something like £8,000 to £10,000 depending on the deal. Take off the loan and an ERC of, say, nothing, because the plan's charge period has long expired, and they walk away with roughly £128,000 to £130,000.

Now change one thing. Suppose they sold at £330,000 because the house needs work and they wanted speed. The loan is the same £261,900. After costs they are left with roughly £58,000 to £60,000. A 17.5% drop in price cut their take-home by more than half. That is the leverage effect of a large, growing debt, and it is why I keep telling people to know the redemption figure first and to be wary of discounts. A discount that feels like "just a bit off" is a much bigger bite out of what you actually keep.

Is it worth waiting for the ERC to fall away?

Sometimes, and it is a calculation worth doing rather than guessing. Waiting saves the ERC but costs you another year of compound interest. At 6.63%, a £261,900 loan grows by about £17,400 in the following year. If your ERC is bigger than that and drops off soon, waiting can win. If the ERC is small, or the date is far away, waiting loses. Put both numbers side by side with your adviser and pick the lower. And if your health or circumstances are pushing you to move now, remember the care exemption: a medical certificate may remove the ERC entirely.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to sell a house with equity release?

About as long as any sale, plus the time the lender takes to produce a redemption statement. Ask for it at the very start so it is ready when the buyer's solicitor needs it.

Do I need my lender's permission to sell?

Their involvement is required, because they hold a charge on the property. They will not block a sale that repays the loan, but they do need to supply the figure and release the charge on completion.

Can I sell to a family member?

Yes, but the loan still has to be repaid or ported. Read our guide to property jargon and get independent legal advice on any family sale.

Where to go from here

If you have an equity release plan and you are thinking of moving, start with three phone calls: the provider for the redemption statement, the adviser for an honest opinion on your options, and a conveyancer who has handled a charge like this before. Then sit down with the real figures. If speed matters, you can compare offers from vetted buyers through our free valuation and comparison. No pressure, no obligation. Just get the numbers in front of you so the decision is yours.

This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice. Equity release is a regulated product, so speak to a qualified adviser about your own plan.