Three London councils are leading a pilot scheme that allows older people to unlock small amounts of money from their property.

The equity release scheme, run by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, hopes to make it easier for older people with low incomes to stay in their own homes rather than move into care and still be entitled to the same benefits.

The Home Cash Plan, provided by Just Retirement, works by enabling people to release equity, firstly as much as £5,000, followed by £2,000 each subsequent time, on demand, rather than at pre-determined dates.

Julia Unwin, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "Our aim is to find a practical solution to enable these people to release the equity in their homes, without jeopardising their pension credit, so they can stay at home for longer."

The pilot, which will run until the summer of 2011, is being carried out in the London boroughs of Islington and Kensington and Chelsea, and Maidstone

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