Home reversion plans

A home reversion plan is a type of equity release where you sell all or part of your home to a provider for a tax-free lump sum or regular payments. You keep the right to live there for life under a lifetime lease, usually rent free or for a nominal rent, and stay responsible for upkeep.

Home reversion plans are regulated by the FCA, and advice is required before one is taken out (FCA Handbook, MCOB 8, accessed 20 Oct 2026). They are far less common than lifetime mortgages.

When the last person on the plan dies or moves into long-term care, the home is sold. The provider receives its share of the sale price and the rest goes to your estate.

With home reversion you choose how much of the home to sell, from a small share to the whole property. The provider pays a price for that share well below its market value, because it receives nothing until the home is sold, which may be many years away. Older applicants usually receive a higher price.

The share you keep stays yours, so any rise in the home's value on that share benefits your estate. The share you sell, and any rise in its value, belongs to the provider.

There is no loan and no interest, so the amount the provider receives is fixed as a share of the eventual sale price rather than growing like a debt. That certainty is the main reason some people choose home reversion over a lifetime mortgage.

Home reversion plans are usually open to homeowners at a higher minimum age than lifetime mortgages, often in their mid-sixties or older, set by each provider. The property must be your main home, in good condition, and of a type the provider accepts, and any existing mortgage is repaid from the money released.

Joint plans cover a couple, and the home is only sold when the second person dies or moves into long-term care. A medical check is not usually needed, though some providers offer better terms for people with health conditions.

Advisers that arrange later-life plans can compare the providers, and firms are listed on the equity release advisers page.

The key difference is ownership. With a lifetime mortgage you keep owning your home and borrow against it, so the debt grows with rolled-up interest. With home reversion you sell a share of the home, so there is no debt and no interest, but the provider owns that share and benefits from any rise in its value.

A lifetime mortgage usually releases more money for the same home, because the lender is paid back with interest. Home reversion gives certainty over how much of the home will be left, because the share sold is fixed.

The right choice depends on age, health, the value of the home, plans for inheritance and how long you expect to stay. The lifetime mortgage guide explains the other side of the comparison in more detail.

The main cost of home reversion is the gap between the price the provider pays and the market value of the share it buys. That gap reflects how long the provider expects to wait before the home is sold, so it is narrower for older applicants and wider for younger ones, and it is the figure to compare between providers.

Advice, valuation and legal fees are paid at the start, and some providers contribute to them. There is no interest, so the cost does not grow over time in the way a rolled-up loan does, although the provider also gains any rise in value on its share.

If the plan ends early, for example because the last person on it dies soon after it starts, the provider still keeps its share. Some plans offer protection that returns part of the value if that happens within an early period, which is worth asking about.

Home reversion plans from Equity Release Council members include the right to live in the home for life and require independent legal advice before completion. The lease sets out who pays for repairs and insurance, and what happens on a move, so it matters as much as the price.

Those requirements are part of the Council's standards (Equity Release Council, Statement of Principles and product standards, accessed 20 Oct 2026).

Moving can be harder than with a lifetime mortgage, because the provider owns part of the home. Some plans allow a move with the provider's share transferred, while others require the plan to be ended.

The money released may affect means-tested benefits and the value of your estate for inheritance tax (MoneyHelper, Equity release, accessed 20 Oct 2026).