Quantcast
Menu

Equity Release

How much property wealth do you have?

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
11/08/2020

The average homeowner over 50 is sitting on £127,000 equity tied up in their home

Homeowners over 50 bought their current home 20 years ago, on average, for £113,365, and it’s now worth £240,681, said SunLife.

This means their home has more than doubled in value and they have an average £127,316 property wealth. For those in their 70s, the increase is typically £146,291 or 153%.

Regional split

Over-50s in London have seen the value of their homes rise even further – by £210,863 on average from £145,714 in 1998 to £356,577 today.

While over-50s in the North West many not have seen the highest increases in cash terms, they have seen the largest percentage increase – 154%.

The lowest rise is the North East, where over-50s have seen their home increase in value by just 64%.

Unlocking property wealth

Most older homeowners (72%) are mortgage-free, but one in four say they are worse off than they expected to be at this time in their lives.

Of those still working, 43% say they don’t think they will have enough money for retirement while 10% say they ‘don’t know’. Amongst those that are already retired or semi-retired, 15% don’t think they have enough money to last.

One option is to sell and either downsize, or move to a cheaper area, to access that cash, or they can consider equity release, but they should get independent financial and legal advice.

Simon Stanney, equity release director at SunLife said: “With equity release, the money is tax-free, and you can use it for whatever you like once you have paid off any existing mortgage. For many, this will be to boost their incomes or maybe help family who may need financial support.”