Pensioner equity release assets 'top £700bn'

Pensioners interested in equity release have a total of £765.18 billion tied up in property collectively, new figures show.

Nearly a third of pensioner property wealth is concentrated in the south-east and London, according to Key Retirement Solutions.

Commenting on the findings, business development director Dean Mirfin explained: "The property wealth owned outright by pensioners represents a potential source of income for the over-65s particularly when other sources of retirement income are under pressure from low interest rates and annuity rates."

Research by Key Retirement Solutions published in January indicated that the equity release sector has been broadly immune to the effects of the economic downturn.

However, the market monitor reveals that there was a dramatic increase in the number of people using equity release funds to repay non-mortgage debt in 2009, rising to 35 per cent from 11 per cent in 2008.

This suggests that equity release is an increasingly necessary means of people meeting their payment obligations during the recession.

Ashall Glover Financial Services are equity release specialists