Equity release to buy another property is possible with some lenders, but the loan is secured on the home you live in. What their own pages say.

A lifetime mortgage borrows against the home you live in, and what you spend the money on is a separate question from which home secures it. Several lenders' pages say the money can go towards a second home, a holiday home or helping a child onto the property ladder, while their lending criteria tie the loan itself to your main residence. Whether those criteria fit your own plans is a check an FCA-authorised equity release adviser will make by phone, free, after the short form on this page goes in. How a lifetime mortgage works is in our equity release guide, and the plan types are compared in equity release types.

Can you use equity release to buy another property?

Sometimes, depending on the lender and on whether the purchase is your next main home, a second or holiday home, a buy-to-let or a gift to a child. Aviva's article on buying another property (last updated 27 October 2025) opens: "If you’re aged 55 or over, you may be able to use a lifetime mortgage, which is a type of equity release, to buy another property, including a new home, second home, holiday home or buy-to-let." On buy-to-let, the same article adds that not every provider offers lifetime mortgages for it and that Aviva itself does not.

Aviva's page on uses of the money (updated 2 October 2026) also lists a second home or holiday home. Its FAQ page, read on 22 October 2026, answers the question more narrowly: "Yes, as long as the new property is your main residence and meets our property lending criteria at the time." So Aviva's own pages differ, and for a particular purchase its lending criteria at the time decide.

Legal & General lists helping children buy their first property among the uses of the money, and Pure Retirement names supporting family through gifting. Just's lending criteria guide, which is marked for financial advisers only (JM 00341.21 05/2026), lends for most purposes as long as the applicant lives in the property being mortgaged.

Its examples include gifting to family and a second home for the applicant's own use, while "Investment or currency speculation" is among the purposes it cannot consider.

Which home the lifetime mortgage is secured on

The home you borrow against is the one you live in. Aviva's eligibility page (15 October 2026) asks that the property be your main ongoing residence, and more2life's customer page says it must be your main residence. Lending criteria written for advisers spell it out. more2life's Omni criteria for intermediaries (M2L815.6, 06/26) say borrowing "cannot be secured against a second home (holiday home or rental property)"; Just's adviser guide puts second or holiday homes, and investment properties bought to let, among property types it will not accept; and Pure Retirement's Classic criteria for intermediaries (PR02716, 0925) list holiday homes as not acceptable. Canada Life does offer a lifetime mortgage on a second home, Second Home Options, though its page on 22 October 2026 said new applications were paused for the time being. The Equity Release Council's home-for-life standard, which its members follow, also depends on the property staying your main residence (the Council's standards). The lender-by-lender detail is on equity release on a buy to let property.

So if the money buys a second property, your main home has to stay your home. Aviva's article says: "If you buy a second home using equity release, you’ll still need to live in your main home for at least six months of the year." Buying a new main home works differently: the article describes the lifetime mortgage then being secured on the new house. In Scotland the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970 requires a standard security in place of a mortgage charge (section 9). Which of your properties a lender would accept as security, and on what terms, is something a qualified adviser can go through with you at no charge once you leave your details for a call.

Using equity release to help a child buy a home

Helping a child is one of the uses lenders name, but the loan stays yours. With no regular repayments, Aviva explains, interest keeps building on the amount borrowed and on interest already added, so the cost of a gift grows over time (how the interest builds).

GOV.UK says Inheritance Tax may have to be paid after your death on some gifts, and that gifts given less than 7 years before you die may be taxed depending on who receives them and their relationship to you, the value of the gift and when it was given. For what you can give away tax free in your lifetime, it points to a solicitor or tax adviser. Equity release and inheritance tax goes further, and using equity release for income and gifts covers gifting more widely.

The DWP's Pension Credit guide for advisers says capital given away in order to qualify for Pension Credit, or to receive more, may still be counted as yours (notional capital), though not where it repaid or reduced a debt or bought something reasonable in the circumstances. Equity release and benefits explains the deprivation rules.

Tax and stamp duty on a second property

Aviva describes the cash from a lifetime mortgage as tax-free but cautions that it "could affect your tax position". The tax points that come with the purchase itself, from GOV.UK (read 22 October 2026), are these.

  • Stamp Duty Land Tax is due on purchases over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland; Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales Land Transaction Tax. SDLT's higher rates usually apply if buying a new residential property means you will own more than one. They are not charged on a replacement main residence if both of GOV.UK's conditions apply: the purchase replaces your main residence, and the previous one was sold within 36 months of completing the new purchase. If the old home is still unsold on completion day, the higher rates are due, and GOV.UK points to checking for a refund.
  • Capital Gains Tax is paid on the gain when you sell or otherwise dispose of assets that, GOV.UK lists, include "property that’s not your main home".
  • Rental income: GOV.UK says that when you rent out property you may have to pay tax.

Rates and thresholds change, so they are left to GOV.UK; is equity release taxable? covers the cash itself. Buying property as an investment carries investment risk: MoneyHelper warns that all investments can rise and fall, so you could get back less than you put in, and meanwhile the loan's interest keeps adding up. An equity release adviser can set out what to raise with a tax adviser; to arrange that talk, send your details through this page's enquiry form.

What it does to inheritance and means-tested benefits

MoneyHelper says the loan and the interest building on it reduce the equity in your home, so anyone you leave it to receives what remains once the loan is repaid. GOV.UK defines the estate in plain terms: "Your estate is all your money, property and possessions left when you die." See equity release and inheritance.

MoneyHelper also warns that the money can affect means-tested benefits, as well as council tax reductions and local authority grants. In the DWP's Pension Credit guide, capital includes the net market value of land and property; the home you live in is ignored, but money raised through equity release is taken into account unless it is for necessary repairs and improvements. For property you own but do not live in, the guide lists when its value can be ignored: where a close relative such as a child occupies it and has reached Pension Credit qualifying age or is sick or disabled, or where it was recently bought and you intend to move into it within 26 weeks. Other benefits follow their own rules (equity release and benefits).

Moving home with the plan is a different question

Buying another property to live in while selling your current one is a move, not a second purchase. Whether a lifetime mortgage can be ported, or must be repaid and replaced, is in moving house with equity release. Legal & General says you can still move house provided the new property is acceptable to it, and it also warns that repaying all or a significant part of the loan early may bring an early repayment charge (repaying early; how equity release works).

A home reversion plan, the other type of equity release, means selling between 20% and 60% of your home for a lump sum or income, according to Legal & General (what it is; against a lifetime mortgage). Whether a reversion provider would accept the cash going into a second property is a question the enquiry form here can put to an adviser, who answers it free of charge.

More questions on buying with released equity

Can I use equity release if I am buying my first home?

Aviva describes its lifetime mortgage as for UK homeowners aged 55 or over. How a lender would treat a first purchase at your age is for an adviser to explain, free, when they ring you back after you send the short form.

Can I buy a holiday home abroad with a lifetime mortgage?

Aviva's article says you can use one to buy a holiday home "either here in the UK or abroad", but that further afield you will need to think about exchange rates and local laws. The property and tax rules there are those of the country concerned, so local advice is needed too.

How long can my main home stand empty if I buy elsewhere?

It differs by lender. Aviva says the property mustn’t be left empty for more than six months at a time; more2life says three months per year. Check the lender's current terms.

Do I need advice if the money is only for property?

Yes. MoneyHelper says you must speak to an equity release specialist before deciding, and the Equity Release Council says all customers need independent legal advice, a standard its members follow (why you need a solicitor).

Talking it through before you commit

Whatever the money buys, the loan is secured on the home you live in and takes from what your family inherits. Alternatives to equity release such as downsizing are worth setting beside any illustration. A qualified equity release adviser, who is FCA-authorised, can weigh the purchase against all of that in a single conversation; the call-back request form here is free to use.

Sources (read 22 October 2026 unless dated): Aviva: buying another property (27 October 2025), uses (2 October 2026), eligibility (15 October 2026), FAQs; Legal & General and its home reversion guide (3 March 2026); Just, JM 00341.21 (for advisers); more2life, lifetime mortgages and Omni criteria (for intermediaries); Pure Retirement, how equity release works and Classic criteria (for intermediaries); Canada Life, Second Home Options; MoneyHelper, what is equity release (snapshot 19 September 2026) and investment risk (snapshot 9 March 2026); Equity Release Council; GOV.UK: Stamp Duty Land Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax gifts, renting out a property; DWP Pension Credit guide (April 2026 edition); 1970 Act s 9.