Equity release market holding up

Posted 14/10/2009

The equity release market in the UK is continuing to hold up amid difficult economic conditions, a new report has revealed.

According to figures from Safe Home Income Plans (Ship), the total amount taken via equity release plans went up by 1.2 per cent during the three months to September 2009.

There was also a 3.9 per cent rise in the average amount of equity released by property owners, as it increased from £43,746 to £45,434.

This is nine per cent higher than the figure recorded during the same period of the previous year.

Andrea Rozario, director general of Ship, commented: “It is encouraging to see how well the equity release market is holding up compared to the wider remortgage market.”

However, she conceded that the most recent three-month period has been a “challenging quarter in a difficult year”.

Earlier this week, Ship attributed the popularity of equity release partly to low interest rates, as those who receive an income on their savings have seen it “severely reduced” in the last few months.