The Index showed that equates to a collective increase of around £461.49 million every day.
According to the retirement finance and property specialist, the nation’s 6.3 million retired homeowners have each gained on average around £6,553 in property wealth since January. Over the past 12 months a pensioner can expect to have gained on average around £20,017 in the value of their home and the total collective worth of British pensioners’ homes now stands at some £1.252 trillion.
Homewise says retired homeowners continue to see increases in the value of their property. However, the average annual disposable income of a single pensioner remains perilously low and the Government was recently called on to treat the plight of pensioners with the same urgency as combating child poverty.
Homewise warns that many ‘equity rich’ retired homeowners may actually feel less well off as the cost of living in this country continues to rise. The company recently launched Find & Afford, a unique scheme that enables over 65s to potentially use some of the capital tied up in their home to move to a location of their choice at a fraction of the cost – all without having to contend with much of the stress involved in moving.
Mark Neal, managing director of Homewise, said: “Many people will see owning your home outright – as many pensioners do – as a great way to take advantage of the property boom. But unfortunately equity gains don’t mean a thing if you haven’t got the income to make ends meet.
“We also know that many pensioners are struggling in poor quality accommodation and either can’t afford to renovate or simply can’t face the prospect of letting the builders in. There are however specialist products which are designed to help over 65s combat these concerns and take advantage of the buoyant property market.”
According to the Homewise Pensioners Property Equity Index, the largest quarterly increases were in Scotland and the South West, where retired homeowners saw the value of their properties appreciate by on average around £12,000 and £11,300 each. The collective property equity held by pensioners in the capital is now a staggering £223.15 billion. The South East’s retired homeowners still hold the largest amount of equity in their homes, owning over £320 billion worth of property between them.
However property-owning pensioners in the North East saw the smallest gains as the value of their homes rose by on average around £3,647 during 2006 – over £12,600 less than the national average increase. Homewise says this is primarily due to the region’s relatively stagnant property market.
