13 people a week in UK helped onto housing ladder by equity release so far in 2017

Equity release has helped the equivalent of 13 first time buyers a week in the first half of 2017, highlighting how important it has become for the current housing market.

The report from Retirement Advantage shows how relatives are using the equity in their home to help family members who are otherwise struggling to save for a deposit for their first home.

The data reveals that in the first six months of the year some 2% of customers said they were purchasing an equity release product so that they could help a first time buyer. Over the same period, figures from the Equity Release Council show that there were 16,805 new equity release customers nationwide.

By applying its experiences across the whole of the UK, Retirement Advantage estimates this equates to 13 people each week being helped on to the first rung of the property ladder thanks to equity release.

‘Much has been made of the financial support first time buyers get from relatives. What we are seeing is that existing property wealth is a significant source of finance for that support,’ said Alice Watson, head of marketing at Retirement Advantage Equity Release.

‘As the equity release market continues to boom and products grow in popularity, helping first time buyers comes up consistently as a common reason for choosing to release equity,’ she explained.

‘People want to use the value stored away in their properties to treat themselves in retirement, in the shape of home improvements or holidays, but they want to help loved ones too. For the majority of over 55s, property is their single biggest source of wealth,’ she pointed out.

‘Combined with the growing trend of families helping first time buyers onto the property ladder, it is likely we’ll see many more people become property owners thanks to equity release over the coming months and years,’ she added.