This contributed to the annual rolling year total figure of £1,169.2 million. The total number of equity release plans sold increased almost 7 per cent on Q1 2006 from 6,363 to 6,785 and represented the fourth year of consistent growth.
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Drawdown products proved the most popular equity release option, accounting for 40 per cent of all new equity release business. This compared to 20 per cent in Q1 2006 and 7 per cent in Q4 2005, when they were first introduced.
Home reversions also continued to grow, with an increase in the number of plans sold of 14 per cent on last year from 363 plans in 2006 to 413 in 2007, which accounted for £22.5 million worth of new business.
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Jon King, chief executive of SHIP, commented: “The amount of business arranged through mortgage intermediaries, however, is also encouraging. With SHIP’s compulsory deadline of 1 August to hold a lifetime mortgage examination it is hoped that this growing proportion of business from IFAs will be matched with relevant advice for the consumer.”
Peter Fisher, director of NHFA, said: “It’s a very good sign that drawdown has become more popular. It means that buyers are looking at schemes that give potentially the highest value to the client. It’s a trend that indicates clients are being advised more effectively not to borrow more than they need and that’s excellent. It’s interesting the whole industry is moving to this type of lending.”
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