It is not uncommon these days for people to be in debt with personal loans and credit cards and it seems to be a growing problem in the UK at the moment, with the level of personal loan and card debt increasing at a dramatic rate, despite many people paying their loans off due to the recession. It is bad enough for people who are still working to be able to manage their loan repayments, but there is now also an increasing number of people entering retirement with outstanding debts on personal loans and credit cards. One option for these people, if they are home owners, is to take out an equity release loan against their property to repay outstanding loans and provide additional retirement income.

There are several companies already offering equity release loans, but the latest offering comes from the debt charity The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), who is entering the market this year with a no fee loan product to help retired people clear their outstanding loan debts and improve their disposable income levels in retirement. The CCCS previously referred individuals requiring help in this field to a range of providers who offered equity release loans, but it has now obtained authorisation to offer loans itself on a charitable, non profit making basis.

Malcolm Hurlston of the CCCS said “The generation which cut its teeth on credit cards has reached retirement age and with higher debts than previous generations. Thanks to the increase in home ownership, many of them have access to capital which can free them of unsecured loan debt and lighten their last years. The judicious use of equity release can transform the future for many older people and our aim is first, to make it available with the best possible guidance and secondly, to develop better equity release products to meet the needs we discern. I hope to announce the formation of an expert study group within the next weeks.”