A key reason that retirees are releasing equity from their home is the growing dependence on the Bank of Mum and Dad.
As house prices grow across the country, families are receiving help from parents and grandparents in order to gain access to the property ladder.
Whilst paying off a mortgage is the most popular reason for equity being released from a property, recent research commissioned by Age Partnership indicates that 6% wish to assist their family with the purchase of a property. Along with helping relatives, further reasons for releasing equity include wanting to buy a new car or being able to have a better quality of life, at 4% and 9% respectively.
However, when it comes to releasing equity, the figures indicate that there is a regional divide. On average, those living in the North release £50,218 worth of equity from their homes. In the South, however, the average amount released is £85,593 – a figure which has grown by £2,500 since 2015.
Parallel with this rise in the amount of equity being released, the national average has also grown by over three quarters (77%) in Q1 of 2017. Using these figures, projections indicate that the rising trend in releasing equity will continue.
