Last year £3.014bn was released, up from £2.154bn in 2016.
The equity release market saw activity surge by 40% in 2017 with £3bn of property wealth being released, Key Retirement’s Equity Release Market Monitor has revealed.
Last year £3.014bn was released, up from £2.154bn in 2016.
Dean Mirfin, chief product officer at Key Retirement, said: “Expansion in the market is being driven by customer demand as retired homeowners’ confidence in making full use of their property wealth continues to grow.
“2017 saw a series of records broken but perhaps most significant is the pace of expansion last year with around 40% growth in plan sales and the total value released at an all-time high.
“More lenders are launching in the market in response to demand and that in turn is increasing competition, driving down rates and bringing new innovative features to the market as expert advisers increasingly recognise how property wealth makes a major difference for retirement income.”
In 2017 £953.6m was released in the South East, followed by £557.7m in London and £373.9m in the South West.
Such is the regional disparity of those using equity release, in Northern Ireland and the North East of England just £15m and £56.9m were released respectively.
Around 62% of all sales were drawdown plans, including 17% enhanced drawdown.
Around 38% were in the form of lump sum single advance lifetime mortgages, including 18% of enhanced products.
