Equity release vs downsizing house – which is best?

Downsizing and equity release are both popular ways to unlock the capital in your home. We weigh up the pros and cons of each.

Pensioner and adult daughter look happy as they smile at a photo frame while packing personal items into boxes while moving house.
(Image credit: Frazao Studio Latino via Getty Images)

Have you built up considerable equity in your home that you’d like to spend but don’t know how to unlock? Two ways of accessing the cash under your roof are to downsize or use equity release.

Both are popular options among older homeowners. The average lump sum borrowed using an equity release mortgage exceeded £115,000 in the last three months of 2024 according to industry body the Equity Release Council. Meanwhile, moving experts Reallymoving.com have recorded that the average sum freed up by moving to a smaller, cheaper home so far this year is £134,405.

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Samantha Partington is an award-winning freelance journalist writing about property, mortgages, personal finance and interiors.

Before going freelance she wrote for the Daily Mail's personal finance section and prior to that she was the residential correspondent for real estate business title Property Week. She was also the former deputy editor of trade title Mortgage Solutions.

Before becoming a journalist, Samantha worked as a mortgage broker and is CeMAP qualified. Follow her on Twitter @SamJPartington1.