A total of £275.7 million of equity was released by SHIP members in the second quarter, 14% higher than the £242.7 million released in the first quarter.
Andrea Rozario, Director General of SHIP, said: “This success underlines the robust health of the equity release sector despite the impact of the credit crunch that is having such a negative effect on the mainstream mortgage market. It also serves to highlight the distinctly different forces that drive the equity release market relative to the mainstream market, including the fundamental pressures of the UK’s ageing population, falling levels of pensions contributions and the very high levels of personal wealth held in housing equity.”
In terms of distribution, the intermediary channel continued to dominate, although the percentage of total equity release business carried out relative to the direct channel fell slightly from 74% in the first quarter of 2008 to 71% in the second quarter.
Moneyfacts.co.uk commented on the news from SHIP, saying the number of products in the market has increased to 60 – an increase of over 25%.
David Knight, analyst at Moneyfacts.co.uk, said: “Following the latest figures released by SHIP, Moneyfacts.co.uk can confirm that the number of equity release products available has also risen since the beginning of the year.
“The importance of equity release to an ageing UK population struggling with inadequate pensions has been heralded for a long time. Have we finally seen the flood gates open?”
