Advantage Options

Here’s everything you need to know about our Advantage Options ­– key features, how it works, helpful links, guides and brochures.

Our Advantage Options are lifetime mortgages that offer you a discounted rate, in return for your commitment to making a set monthly interest payment. By accessing a lower rate, you can save more throughout the term of your mortgage. The discounted interest rate will apply for as long as you continue to service the agreed interest amount each month.

• Advantage Ultra Lite
• Advantage Ultra Lite Plus
• Advantage Super Lite
• Advantage Super Lite Plus
• Advantage Lite
• Advantage Lite Plus
• Advantage Gold
• Advantage Plus
• Advantage Platinum

Each of our Advantage Options offer different amounts you can borrow with different interest rates.

Our Advantage Options offer a rate discount based on the percentage of interest serviced and the commitment to making monthly interest repayments. The higher the percentage of interest serviced, the bigger rate discount you can enjoy.

The above example is based on you choosing either the Advantage Ultra Lite or Advantage Platinum products. Discounts will vary depending on the product and the level of interest serviced, both of which will be selected/agreed at the outset.

View all of our current interest rates in our Home Finance Product Overview.

If you are unable to make a payment, please let us know. You can miss up to three payments over the life of the mortgage, and any missed payments will be added to the loan balance.

If you miss more than three payments, you won’t be able to restart them, and the interest rate will revert to the non-discounted interest rate agreed at the outset of your mortgage as the discount will no longer apply. Your mortgage will then switch to a roll-up mortgage, where interest is added to the loan each month.

Our Advantage Options allow you to make voluntary payments of up to 10% of the initial loan amount each year, without any early repayment charges.

For example, if you decide to borrow £50,000, you can choose to pay back up to £5,000 each year without any penalties.

You can make voluntary payments in addition to your monthly interest payments. If you stop your monthly interest payments at any point, you will still have the option to make voluntary payments and help reduce the overall cost of your mortgage.

Making payments

You choose when to make payments and how much you’d like to pay back, up to your annual allowance. The minimum payment is £50.

Annual allowance

• The annual allowance is 10% of the initial loan amount. This is the amount you can repay in one year without charges
• Your annual allowance starts on the day your mortgage completes and ends a year later on the day before your completion date. For example, if your mortgage completes on 1 July, your annual allowance starts on 1 July and finishes on 30 June the following year
• If you don’t use your full allowance, it won’t roll over into the following year. For example, if you repay 5% in year one, your allowance won’t increase to 15% in year two

Payment frequency

• You choose when to make payments
• We accept payments from the first day your mortgage completes
• You can make as many payments as you like up to your annual allowance and there’s no maximum number of payments
• You can continue to make payments if you borrow more money at a later date
• You can make regular payments by standing order

Making payments

• You can make voluntary payments by standing order or bank transfer
• We’ll send you a standing order form when your mortgage completes and full details of your other payment options

Stopping payments

• There’s no penalty if you choose not to make a payment. We’ll add the interest to your outstanding loan balance each month

A further advance allows you to borrow more funds from your property.

You can do this at any point, as long as your application meets our lending criteria and there’s still enough equity in your property.

Do I qualify?

In order to apply, you’ll need to:

• Take additional financial advice
• Borrow a minimum of £4,000
• Let us know what you’re using the money for

How do I apply?

1. Seek advice from your financial adviser. You can find an adviser at the Equity Release Council if you don’t have one
2. Your financial adviser will contact us to start the application process
3. We’ll send them an application form. They’ll discuss this with you and help you complete it.
4. If your application is successful, we’ll pay the money directly to you

You can choose to pay 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the monthly interest in exchange for a discount on the interest rate. The percentage you select for a further advance can be different from the option you chose for your initial advance. If you prefer, you can also choose not to make any payments on the further advance.

If you take a further advance, the value of your property might need to be reassessed and you may have to pay additional fees, including fees for financial advice. Your financial adviser can provide more details.

View our charges.

Interest rates

We apply a fixed interest rate to each further advance. This is based on the further advance interest rate for your product, at the time you apply. This rate may be higher or lower than the interest rate applied to your initial advance. Please read your Offer Letter carefully to understand how interest will affect the size of your loan in the future.

View our additional borrowing rates.

You can choose to repay some or all of your mortgage at any time, but an early repayment charge may apply if you repay your loan earlier than expected.

Our early repayment charges apply for the first ten years of the initial advance or further advance.

Our early repayment charges are fixed so you know exactly how much it will cost. Our charges are set out in the tables below.

Advantage Options

Early repayment waivers

We know that sometimes life changes and you may want to repay your mortgage. That’s why we offer two waivers:

• Downsizing protection - if you decide to downsize after three years, you won’t need to pay an early repayment charge
• Early repayment waiver for joint borrowers you won’t need to pay an early repayment charge if you decide to repay the lifetime mortgage within three years of the date that the first borrower dies or goes into long-term care

We also won’t apply an early repayment charge where:

• Repayment takes places after your death or the death of the remaining borrower
• You or the remaining borrower move into long-term care
• The early repayment charge term has expired
• You sell the property and transfer the mortgage to another suitable property
• You stay within your 10% annual contribution allowance

Retained ownership

You will always own your home and be responsible for maintaining it, as long as you follow the terms and conditions of the mortgage.

No repossession

You’ll be able to live in your home until you die or move into long-term care, as long as you follow the terms and conditions of the mortgage. Your home will not be repossessed if you don’t make payments.

Fixed interest rates

Your mortgage interest rate will remain fixed for as long as you have it and you continue to make interest repayments. We also apply fixed interest rates to any additional borrowing. The rate for additional borrowing is set at the time you apply and can be different from the initial loan interest rate.

Inheritance protection guarantee

You can choose to protect a percentage of the eventual sale value of your home at the start of your loan. The percentage you choose to protect is guaranteed to be available to you or your beneficiaries in the future. 

Option to move home (porting)

If you want to move home, you may be able to take the mortgage with you. This is known as porting. You’ll also keep the same terms and conditions if it meets our suitability criteria. If you move to a property of lower value, it may mean we’re unable to lend you the amount you currently owe. In these cases you’ll have to repay part of the loan.

Read our guide to porting.

No negative equity guarantee

When your property is sold, if the proceeds after the solicitor and estate agent fees have been paid aren't enough to repay your loan, we won't ask you or your beneficiaries to pay the shortfall. However, any amount left over from the sale of your property will belong to you or your beneficiaries, if your property is sold for more than the amount you borrowed.

We won’t charge you any fees to set up this mortgage. This means there’s no valuation or completion fee. You’ll still need to pay solicitor and adviser fees.

View our charges.

Example charges:

*You may also need to pay disbursements

A lifetime mortgage is a loan secured against your home. It will reduce the amount of inheritance you leave and may affect your tax position and entitlement to welfare benefits.