Home reversion plan: how it works and who offers one

A home reversion plan is a type of equity release where you sell all or part of your home for a cash lump sum or income, well below market value, while keeping the right to live there rent-free. It works differently from a lifetime mortgage, which is a loan rather than a sale of your home.

This guide is general information, not financial advice. For how equity release works more broadly, including lifetime mortgages, see our equity release guide.

How a home reversion plan works

With a home reversion plan, sometimes called a home reversion scheme, you transfer ownership of a percentage of your home to a provider in exchange for a cash lump sum or a regular income. You keep the right to live in the property rent-free for the rest of your life, or until you move permanently into long-term care, provided the plan's conditions are met.

It is not a loan or a mortgage, although it is sometimes searched for as one: nothing is borrowed, so no interest is charged.

Home reversion plans have been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) since 6 April 2007, including advising on, arranging and administering them.

Regulated home reversion plan standards

Providers that are members of the Equity Release Council apply standards that also cover lifetime mortgages: a right to remain in your home for life or until a permanent move into care, and a right to move to another suitable property if your circumstances change.

Not every provider is a Council member, so it is worth checking. The underlying transaction, a sale rather than a loan, still works differently from a lifetime mortgage. See our comparison of lifetime mortgage vs home reversion for the differences side by side.

How much a home reversion plan pays

Because you sell below market value in return for the right to remain rent-free, the amount you receive is typically only around 20% to 60% of the market value of the share you sell, and generally less the younger you are when you apply.

A home reversion plan example

For illustration only, MoneyHelper's figures suggest someone selling their whole home at around 65 might receive in the region of 25% of its value, rising to around 60% at 90. On a £300,000 home, that would work out at roughly £75,000 at 65 or roughly £180,000 at 90. In return, the provider would own the whole home and receive its full sale value when the plan ends, including any rise in price. At 65, that means giving up a home worth £300,000 today for £75,000. These are illustrative figures, not a quote: each provider sets its own percentage.

Home reversion plan minimum age and eligibility

The minimum age for a home reversion plan is typically higher than for a lifetime mortgage: commonly from age 60, compared with 55 for most lifetime mortgages.

Other criteria, such as property type and value, vary by provider, and a plan is only arranged after regulated advice.

Home reversion plan providers: who offers them now

Home reversion plans make up a small share of the equity release market. We could not confirm from a dated, primary source that any provider is currently offering new home reversion plans to the public. The firms below are the ones we found in the sources we checked; this is not a full list of the market, and being named here is not an endorsement. Later Life Finance Guide is not affiliated with any provider and does not recommend one. Details were checked on 26 September 2026; products change, so check current details with the provider or an FCA-regulated adviser.

Aviva's own site states that it provides lifetime mortgages and does not offer home reversion plans.

Retirement Bridge Group, an Equity Release Council member, administers existing home reversion plans. Bridgewater Equity Release is part of the same group. A January 2026 report by Money Helpdesk said the group does not currently launch new equity release products for the general public and manages a closed book of existing plans; we could not confirm whether Bridgewater takes new applications.

Our equity release providers page lists equity release lenders A–Z.

Risks of a home reversion plan

Because you sell a share of your home, you give up any future rise in the value of that share, whatever happens to house prices afterwards. Unlike a lifetime mortgage, there is no compounding interest. But the share you sell no longer forms part of your estate, so what you can leave to family is likely to be substantially reduced, and won't include that share of your home.

Your right to live there rent-free also depends on the plan's conditions being met, so it is important to understand them before you sign.

Money released, whether as a lump sum or as income, can also affect entitlement to means-tested benefits, local authority grants and council tax reductions. For example, Pension Credit takes account of savings above £10,000, and some means-tested benefits stop when savings are above £16,000.

See how equity release affects inheritance, which covers home reversion, and equity release explained for the wider market.

Next step: speaking to an FCA-regulated adviser

Home reversion is one of two main types of equity release, alongside the more common lifetime mortgage. Because home reversion is hard to reverse and reduces what you can leave, speaking to an FCA-regulated adviser is the next step to understand how it, another form of equity release, or an alternative such as downsizing would work in your circumstances. We do not recommend any particular provider or plan.