Selling the family home when money is scarce might smack of putting furniture in the fire to keep warm.

Yet for older people keen to increase their income, it is possible to sell part of a home for a lump sum and remain living in it.

This is an alternative to selling out entirely and moving into another property of lower value, an option shirked by many late in life.

The concept, known as equity release, is new to the Irish market.

A share in the property is sold in return for a guarantee of rent-free tenure until death.

Such guarantees come at a price, however. The share in the property will be sold for only a fraction of its value because the purchaser must wait until it is vacated to realise the asset.

For potential vendors living in property whose value has increased during the boom, this should be a major consideration when examining alternative sources of funding, if they exist.

Where the sale of a share goes through, the estate of the final owner receives the balance of the property's value whenever they die.

One such product is available on the Irish market through a company known as Residential Reversions Ltd, which is based in the IFSC in Dublin. Bank of Ireland offers a similar deal, although it is loan-based.

Peter Wyse of Wyse estate agents, who is a shareholder in Residential Reversions, says the company places the property interests with institutional and private pension funds.

The scheme is confined to property-owners aged over 69 years, he says. It is possible for a property-owner to sell a quarter share now and sell another share of that size later.

The open market value of the share is discounted according to actuarial formulae based on the life expectancy of the homeowners and the value of the property on the open market.

For example, he says a half-share in a property worth £200,000 (€253,948) would be worth £100,000 (€126,974) on the open market. If it were owned by a couple aged 70, that half-share might fetch about £40,000 (€50,789) from Residential Reversions.

Last month the company was selling a quarter-share in a Rathmines property to investors for £90,000 (€114,276).

The entire property has an open market value of £540,000 (€685,659) and the "expected term" of the deal with its owner is nine years.

Mr Wyse says lump sums can be used to pay for a major item of expenditure or, if a pension doesn't go far enough, to generate an annuity-based income. Administrative charges will also apply to ensure the upkeep of the property for the investors who purchase it.

The Bank of Ireland LifeLoan product is available to homeowners aged over 65 years. It provides an opportunity to borrow up to 30 per cent of the value of a property up to a maximum of £60,000 (€76,184).

The money is returned to the property owner at a fixed interest rate for the first 15 years. When that period ends, customers are given a choice of a new fixed interest rate or a variable one.

The loan is realised by the bank when the owner or owners of the property die.

Emotional attachment to a home may mean its owners are reluctant to sell a share in it.

But the contrary argument suggests that selling just a share is more favourable emotionally than selling out entirely.

Major financial decisions should be made only after consulting with an independent professional.