If downsizing is a possibility .. is that not another way of releasing some capital without giving your house away.
Have yet to come across anyone who was happy
a few years down the line, after doing equity release.
Working for a charity, we used to send caseworkers out to visit people who had ended up not getting the return they were led to believe they 'may' receive. As a rule they were living in a house they couldn't afford to live in .. it had been their house but now it belonged to an insurance company!
Another option might be to sell up and start renting,
then you would have a lump sum to hand !