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Equity Release

A new equity release product launched every 28 hours in 2020

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
10/09/2020

Older homeowners can release their property wealth to help fund retirement or to gift to loved ones

There are over 525 equity release options on the market, according to Key Partnerships, a huge increase of 510% since 2017, when only 86 plans were available.

The growth in later life lending options has been particularly strong in 2020, added the equity release referral service.

Product numbers have increased from 315 at the end of 2019 to 525 at the end of August 2020, or 210 new products in 244 days. This represents a new equity release mortgage every 28 hours.

Flexible options

Today’s products also allow borrowers to have more control over their borrowing, said Key.

The number of plans allowing interest payments has grown substantially, from just 81 at the end of October 2019 to 186 today.

The number of drawdown plans has also rocketed, with 294 plans now offering it compared to just 90 in October last year.

Rates down

In addition to the growth in the number of equity release plans on the market and features available, there’s also been a significant fall in the average interest rate.

Average lifetime mortgage rates have fallen from from 4.6% in June 2018 to 4.05% last month – a 12% decrease.

Jason Ruse, business development director at Key Group, said: “While the equity release market – as with other sectors – has had to work hard to weather the current pandemic, we have still seen significant product innovation and development.

“Indeed, with more funders than ever active in the market, there is more choice and more competitive interest rates than ever which is great news for customers.”