Homeowners in 53% of areas across England and Wales could access more than the average pension pot of £61,930 by using equity release, new research has found.
This is according to analysis by Legal & General Home Finance (LGHF) of median local house price data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The most recently available ONS data, which outlined median house prices in England and Wales, saw an average increase of 7.5% between March 2020 and March 2021, and of 24% between March 2016 and March 2021.
In 2021, L&G customers accessed an average 24.5% of the value of their home through equity release, putting the expected amount that can be accessed across England and Wales at £72,988.
LGHF’s findings, therefore, suggested the average homeowner could access £5,000 more in 2021 than in 2020, and £14,000 more than five years earlier.
“In recent years, we have seen house prices increase to the extent that they will have become the most significant asset available to many UK homeowners,” commented LGHF CEO, Claire Singleton. “House prices have increased by an additional 11.8% over the year to September 2021, alone.
“We anticipate that using your home to fund your retirement will become more commonplace, whether that’s by downsizing to free up funds or releasing money tied up in your home through products like lifetime mortgages. This, in turn, can have a broader economic impact, with our data demonstrating that every £1 released via a lifetime mortgage can generate £2.34 of economic growth.”
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories