Reaching retirement and falling out of love with your home?

As you get older you might find your home is not the haven it once was - areas need a bit of TLC, a lick of paint or just an update.

For others, maintaining the property, troubles getting around and problems with mobility take precedence when overhauling your home.

Unfortunately, making these changes and revamping your home can often be costly and justifying spending your pension on it isn’t as easy as we would like. Some look into downsizing, but leaving a home which is filled with memories can be painful.

However, recent research has revealed that more and more of us are switching onto the possibilities of using our hard-earned property wealth to improve those same properties.

Equity release is adding to our pension pots like never before. Key Retirement’s Equity Release Market Monitor shows those in Scotland with plans to cash in on the value of their property has increased almost 40 per cent in Q1 year-on-year.

Home Improvements

Key Retirement’s survey shows that while this is becoming an increasingly common option, homeowners are putting the funds towards a variety of different uses.

Helping family or friends through giving a gift or to help them get on the property ladder amounted to 22%, 30% will use it to pay off debts, but a staggering 62% will go towards home or garden improvements.

Combined, the equity release plans in Scotland equate to a total value of £21.6m, with an average payout of £42,379 – a hefty sum given the average pension fund of £105,496 for 65 year olds.

This can enable owners to make the most of the property they live in without looking to downsize.

Having a healthy figure to improve the property enables homeowners to redecorate, change and improve areas across the home and garden that have started to lack luster.

These improvements not only help make the home ‘retirement ready’ but these changes can often add value to the property, putting wealth back into it and boosting what is left behind for loved ones.

By bringing to life a vision you have had for the property when you reach retirement you can ensure that your retirement is the pleasurable one you had planned in a home that suits you.

For some, equity release is used an investment and changes are often made to help aid mobility across the home – enabling them to stay in their homes and adapt it to their needs rather than making a more drastic move.

Whatever the improvements equity release has become a great option for homeowners nearing retirement.

Sometimes it is possible to have the best of both worlds and in becoming ‘retirement ready’ the choices are greater than ever.

ENDS