Retired homeowners earned more than £3,150 in the past year from their property, according to Key, despite the impact of political uncertainty on the housing market.

The equity release adviser said that the total property wealth of over-65s who have paid off their mortgage is £1.133 trillion and has increased by £14.78 billion in the past year alone. This averages £3,152 for retired homeowners.

Older homeowners have done even better out of their property when you look back over the longer-term. Since 2010 retired homeowners have benefited from growth of 45% – a total of nearly £354 billion – earning them gains of £75,000 on their homes in the past 10 years.

Welsh winners

Over-65s in Wales are the biggest winners of the last year, seeing property gains of £11,700, while retired homeowners in the West Midlands (£8,165), East Midlands (£5,799) and the North West (£4,355) have also done better than average.

The only region to experience property price falls was East Anglia where retired homeowners are £3,267 worse off over the year. Homeowners in the South East saw marginal price falls of £149 over the year.

Despite the dip, the South East still accounts for nearly a fifth (18.9%) of all property wealth held by retired homeowners.

Will Hale, CEO at Key said: “Political and economic uncertainty hit the housing market last year but there were genuine signs of recovery towards the end of last year and retired homeowners who no longer have mortgages were big beneficiaries.

“Increasingly, we are seeing people choosing to access property wealth in retirement and using modern lending features to suit their individual circumstances.”